Full commission to vote on George Soros’s purchase of Audacy’s nationwide radio network, broadcasting licenses 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) issued the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided to reverse course and honor Sen. Cruz’s request that the Soros Fund Management takeover of Audacy be thoroughly vetted by the full Commission. According to FCC staff, Chairwoman Rosenworcel initially attempted to force the license transfer through a bureau-level order, but elevated the matter to a Commission-level vote in response to urging by Sen. Cruz for greater accountability and requests by Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington.

“I am very pleased that Chairwoman Rosenworcel has come to her senses and abandoned her plan to have unaccountable bureaucrats rubber-stamp George Soros’s takeover of Audacy. Considering the significance of the matter at stake—a request for a waiver of statutory foreign ownership limits to transfer Audacy’s hundreds of broadcast licenses to new owners in the run-up to the Presidential election—I have repeatedly said that a full Commission vote is both a basic duty of the FCC commissioners and necessary to protect the interests of the American public. I am grateful to Commissioners Carr and Simington for working with me to bring greater transparency and accountability to the federal bureaucracy.”

Last week, Sen. Cruz urged Commissioners Carr and Simington to insist that the transaction be reviewed by the full Commission after their Democrat colleagues signaled that they would refuse to abide by their commitments to Congress and demand a Commission-level vote.

Background:

Under Audacy’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan, Soros Fund Management is poised to become the largest shareholder in the company after it emerges from bankruptcy. In order to emerge from bankruptcy, Audacy has asked the FCC for approval to transfer Audacy’s broadcast licenses to the reorganized company. Since the reorganized company would exceed statutory foreign ownership limits (providing that no radio station license may be held by any corporation that exceeds 25 percent foreign ownership), Audacy has asked the FCC to waive the foreign ownership restriction to allow the transaction to proceed, get the keys to the stations now, and punt the FCC’s vetting of their foreign interest holders until a later date.

###