Sinclair Restructures Allbritton Deal in Wake of FCC Crackdown on Sidecar Deals

TV group was worried that FCC would hold up deal review

Seeing the writing on the wall at the Federal Communications Commission, Sinclair Broadcast Group said late Thursday it would restructure its deal to buy Allbritton's TV group. As part of the restructuring, Sinclair will no longer propose to enter into shared service and joint sales agreements in three markets where it is adding ABC affiliates from Allbritton.

Sinclair's change of heart comes as FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has set his sights on curbing such arrangements, calling them end runs around the agency's ownership limits.

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