Sinclair Broadcast Group has told the Federal Communications Commission it is willing to sell two well-recognized TV stations in Chicago and New York owned by Tribune Media if it will help win approval of its $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune-owned stations by the Justice Department and FCC.

The move is a sign Sinclair may be concerned its blockbuster acquisition might not get approved if the deal remains mired in the regulatory review process.

The filing is effectively a new application because it fundamentally changes the structure of the deal and its impact on several TV markets where Sinclair could own multiple stations in a single city.

Few expected Sinclair would offer to divest WGN-TV Chicago and WPIX-TV in New York, which are major market stations with major advertising revenue. Sinclair also offered to sell off KSWB-TV, San Diego’s FOX affiliate, to keep Sinclair under the FCC’s theoretical 39% nationwide audience cap, which was watered down in 2017 by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to count UHF stations at only 50% of their actual viewing audiences — a direct benefit to Sinclair, which already owns and controls an enormous station group that had been constrained from getting much larger.

As part of the revised proposal, Sinclair will sell one or more stations in the following markets, with FOX often mentioned as a potential buyer:

1. Seattle, Washington;
2. St. Louis, Missouri;
3. Salt Lake City, Utah;
4. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;
5. Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, North Carolina;
6. Grand Rapids, Michigan;
7. Richmond, Virginia;
8. Des Moines-Ames, Iowa.

But Sinclair is seeking a waiver to continue to own two of the top four stations in Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, N.C., Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, Pa., and Indianapolis, Ind.

Selling WPIX and WGN will likely make a significant dent in Sinclair’s acquisition expenses, if the deal is approved.

WPIX and WGNhave been owned by Tribune since both stations first signed on in 1948.