Austin News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) issued a statement following the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to reverse its initial course and honor his request for thorough vetting of Soros Fund Management's takeover of Audacy by the full Commission.

According to FCC staff, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel initially attempted to approve the license transfer through a bureau-level order but elevated the matter to a Commission-level vote in response to Sen. Cruz’s urging 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,” said Sen. Cruz. “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 ensure that the transaction be reviewed by the full Commission after their Democrat colleagues signaled they would refuse their commitments to Congress regarding a Commission-level vote.

Under Audacy’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan, Soros Fund Management is poised to become the largest shareholder in Audacy post-bankruptcy. To emerge from bankruptcy, Audacy has asked for FCC approval to transfer its broadcast licenses to the reorganized company. Since this would exceed statutory foreign ownership limits—stipulating no radio station license may be held by any corporation exceeding 25 percent foreign ownership—Audacy has requested an FCC waiver on this restriction.