The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a deal that would allow left-wing billionaire George Soros to acquire more than 200 Audacy radio stations, sparking concerns among some Republican lawmakers who believe the deal was "fast-tracked" and could give Soros undue influence over the media landscape.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a deal that would allow left-wing billionaire George Soros to acquire more than 200 Audacy radio stations, sparking concerns among some Republican lawmakers who believe the deal was "fast-tracked" and could give Soros undue influence over the media landscape.
The FCC's decision, which came after a partisan vote, would allow Soros to reach more than 165 million Americans through his radio empire. The deal is particularly concerning for Republicans, who believe that Soros's political activism could lead to biased coverage of conservative candidates and issues.
Soros Radio Empire Raises Concerns Over Political Influence
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the commission, has expressed concerns about the deal, saying that the FCC should not be "creating this special Soros shortcut." Carr has noted that the vast majority of the stations Soros is acquiring are music or sports stations, but there are a handful in key states that carry conservative talk radio.
Under existing FCC rules, foreign company ownership of US radio stations is not supposed to exceed 25%. Soros took foreign investment to make his bid and then made a filing asking the commission to make an exception to the usual review process, according to public documents.
Soros Radio Empire Raises Concerns Over Political Influence
The FCC's decision to fast-track his deal is the first time in modern history such a deal has been approved by the full Commission without first running the national security review process—a process that could take up to a year or more.
The Soros group told the New York Post that they would circle back to the FCC in the near future to run that process. If the deal goes through, Soros would be considered a "major shareholder," but not necessarily the "owner" of the stations.
Soros Radio Empire Raises Concerns Over Political Influence
Some inside the FCC object to the notion the move was some sort of shortcut or "fast-tracked" for Soros, pointing to a similar process used to under the previous administration in the bankruptcy proceedings of other media companies.
However, Commissioner Nathan Simington, who was nominated by President Trump, blasted the process and said it was, indeed, fast-tracked.
Soros Radio Empire Raises Concerns Over Political Influence
"The FCC has a practice of permitting entities temporarily to exceed foreign ownership caps when emerging from bankruptcy—and the majority, over my objection, did so here. But that wasn’t the only way in which this item was ‘fast-tracked,’" Simington told Fox News Digital.
"Commission leadership tried to approve the item at the staff level, with nothing but a 48-hour notice to Commissioners on a summer Friday. There is almost no factual record on the item because there was almost no attempt to do a real public interest analysis," Simington continued. "Not a single Commissioner outside of the Chairwoman was invited to even think about the issue until staff was directed to handle it on our behalf without our votes. That’s the true ‘fast-track.’"
Soros has been a major donor to Democratic candidates and causes, and his political activism has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle. Concerns about Soros's political influence have been raised before, particularly in relation to his support for progressive prosecutors and his efforts to promote open borders.
The FCC's approval of the Audacy deal is likely to further fuel these concerns, and it remains to be seen how Soros will use his new media platform.
