broadcasting spinoff Tegna) and sell the former's license to Tucker Operating Company LLC; in a revised filing, Sinclair said it would instead put KPLR into a divestiture trust administered by Rafamedia LLC, led by media broker Richard A. Foreman, for sale to an independent third party that does not already own a television station in St. Louis. However, such a sale has so far been hampered because the owner would operate KPLR as a standalone CW affiliate (the majority of The CW's affiliates operate as part of duopolies with "Big Four" network affiliates as those stations tend to fall outside the "top-four" ratings threshold) and potential local programming issues related to its news operations being integrated with those of KTVI. Three weeks after the FCC's July 18 vote to have the deal reviewed by an administrative law judge amid "serious concerns" about Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties, on August 9, 2018, Tribune announced it would terminate the Sinclair deal, intending to seek other M&A opportunities. Tribune also filed a breach of contract lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court, alleging that Sinclair engaged in protracted negotiations with the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division over regulatory issues, refused to sell stations in markets where it already had properties, and proposed divestitures to parties with ties to Sinclair executive chair David D. Smith that were rejected or highly subject to rejection to maintain control over stations it was required to sell. On December 3, 2018, Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Media Group announced it would acquire the assets of Tribune Media for $6.4 billion in cash and debt. The deal—which would make Nexstar the largest television station operator by total number of stations upon its expected closure late in the third quarter of 2019—would put KTVI and KPLR-TV under common ownership with Nexstar's existing properties in Champaign–Springfield–Decatur (CBS affiliate WCIA and MyNetworkTV affiliate WCIX), Peoria–Bloomington (CBS affiliate WMBD-TV and Fox-affiliated LMA partner WYZZ-TV), Rockford (Fox affiliate WQRF-TV and ABC-affiliated JSA/SSA partner WTVO) as well as its properties in Southwestern Missouri (NBC affiliate KSNF and ABC-affiliated JSA/SSA partner KODE-TV in Joplin and Fox affiliate KRBK, MyNetworkTV affiliate KOZL-TV and CBS-affiliated SSA partner KOLR in Springfield). The acquisition by Nexstar also effectively reunited KPLR-TV (along with KRCW-TV) with four stations that had previously been sister stations under ACME Communications ownership prior to 2002 turned CW affiliates: KUCW (formerly