The Biden-Harris Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently fast-tracked its approval – outside of its routine process – of the acquisition of more than 200 bankrupt radio stations by Soros Fund Management, a move that leaves George Soros as the controlling shareholder of Audacy, Inc., the second-largest broadcast radio station owner in the country.
Among the stations affected are those that run shows featuring conservative commentators Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Erick Erickson, Sean Hannity, Brian Kilmeade, and Dana Loesch.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-TX, has dubbed the FCC’s expedited approval of the deal by a vote of 3-2 the “Soros shortcut” due to the federal agency’s decision to allow Audacy to move ahead with a reorganization before a foreign ownership / national security review had been completed.
According to Media Research Center (MRC) President Brent Bozell and Vice President of MRC’s Free Speech America Dan Schneider, “the Soros shortcut appears to have taken its first scalp. Last week, Mark Levin was canceled from his Philadelphia-based Audacy station.”
In an op-ed Monday at the Washington Times, Bozell and Schneider asserted:
This is not about market forces determining who wins and who loses. It is about a federal agency working through the most radical person in politics to censor conservative voices … Consequently, by the eve of the 2024 election, Mr. Soros will be empowered to order hundreds of stations across the country to purge all conservative and Harris-skeptical viewpoints from their airwaves.
In April, Roy wrote to FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about his concerns over the Soros group’s request:
Of particular concern, the Soros groups are asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve a change in ownership in Audacy without the FCC running its normal, statutorily required process. This transaction, which affects radio stations that reach millions of listeners across the U.S., including in Texas’ 21st congressional district, should —at minimum—be subject to rigorous FCC oversight to ensure U.S. radio stations are not subject to undue influence.
Roy observed that the Communications Act “provides that no radio station license can be held by any corporation that exceeds 25 percent foreign ownership,” but that
the Soros group expressly states in their FCC filing that they have determined that the aggregate level of foreign ownership in the company when it emerges from bankruptcy will exceed the 25 percent limit specified in Section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act due to the various entities that it expects to hold voting or equity interests.
The Soros group, Roy further explained, asked the FCC to waive the foreign ownership interests / national security review and “put it off until sometime down the road—indicating that those foreign stakeholders will be given ‘special warrants’ in the meantime.”
“The Soros group says that skipping the foreign ownership review at this time will enable the FCC to expedite its approval of the Soros applications and thus allow them to more quickly realize their ownership interests in, and take the reins at, these hundreds of local radio stations across the country,” the Texas congressman wrote.
The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation on September 26 into the “politicization of FCC” with its “’shortcut’ decision in the Soros deal.”
Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-KY, and member Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-NY, wrote to Rosenworcel that the fast-tracked process allowed by the FCC appears to have the double purpose of doing “a favor for George Soros” and helping the left-wing Democrat donor’s ability to sway voters just prior to the presidential election:
Despite the unprecedented nature of this action, the FCC majority has apparently decided to approve licenses on an accelerated timeframe for a company in which George Soros has a major ownership stake, and with stations in 40 media markets reaching “more than 165 million Americans.” By all appearances, the FCC majority isn’t just expediting, but is bypassing an established process to do a favor for George Soros and facilitate his influence over hundreds of radio stations before the November election.
FCC Republican appointee Brendan Carr, who dissented from the decision to approve the Soros deal, referred to it as a “special shortcut,” and affirmed the move was “unprecedented”:
Never before has the Commission voted to approve the transfer of a broadcast license—let alone the transfer of broadcast licenses for over 200 radio stations across more than 40 markets—without following the requirements and procedures codified in federal law. Not once. And yet the Commission breaks this new ground today without seeking public comment on altering our established regulations, without actually changing the rules on the books, and without seeking the feedback of other federal agencies with relevant equities.
The criticism of what appears to be a blatantly partisan move by the FCC is widespread.
“I have no idea why Soros would do this unless it was to manipulate the thinking of Americans and the information they listen to,” Mike Gonzalez, who worked in the George W. Bush administration, told The Center Square for its report on the FCC’s “shortcut” deal.
“Conservative talk radio is huge, and there is no left wing talk radio because it’s just not interesting,” added Gonzalez, who now writes at the Heritage Foundation. “Conservative talk radio is one of the few communications that conservatives have not a monopoly on but have a strong handle on, and he has bought stations that have Mark Levin and Sean Hannity and Dana Loesch and Glenn Beck.”