FCC chair says he has "serious concerns" about Sinclair deal

What he's saying: "The evidence we’ve received suggests that certain station divestitures that have been proposed to the FCC would allow Sinclair to control those stations in practice, even if not in name, in violation of the law," Pai said. "When the FCC confronts disputed issues like these, the Communications Act does not allow it to approve a transaction."

Key context: Critics of various ideological stripes raised concerns about the way Sinclair could stay involved with some of the stations it planned to sell to get the deal approved.

Opponents of the deal praised the FCC's move. "Today’s announcement is welcome," said Democratic commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. "With this hearing designation order, the agency will finally take a hard look at [Sinclair's] proposed merger with Tribune. This is overdue and favoritism like this needs to end."