A Setback for Sinclair?

It appears that the FCC will not be voting on raising the ownership cap at their July meeting and that likely means that the Sinclair/Tribune deal will continue to be in a holding pattern. 

Many thought that scheduling a vote at the July 12 public meeting on a the proposal related to the 39% ownership cap/UHF would be voted on, but the item did not make the agenda.

B&C writes that an FCC spokesperson would not comment on the absence of that item, but confirmed it would not be voted at the meeting and nothing had been circulated. The FCC had neither confirmed nor denied the initial story that the item would be voted at the meeting, so that could have been a plan that changed. 

The chairman has been under pressure from Democrats not to make any more deregulatory moves before deciding whether Sinclair can merge with Tribune and capitalize on the deregulatory moves the FCC has already made. 

The cap item's absence from the July meeting almost certainly means no decision until August. 

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