For Connoisseur Media, and any other broadcast licensee currently navigating a foreign ownership remediation at the FCC, a Tuesday filing brought some much-needed clarity, but also a few speed bumps — especially as the Jeff Warshaw-led radio group goes full steam ahead on its aggressive M&A plan.
The Media Bureau issued processing guidelines under GN Docket No. 25-149, implementing a directive from the January 2026 Foreign Ownership Report and Order. The order was itself an important development, as it expanded the remedial petition process to privately held companies for the first time. Previously, the safe harbor mechanism, which shields licensees from enforcement action while they work to come into compliance, had been available only to publicly traded broadcast entities.
The January order is what opened the door for Connoisseur to file a remedial foreign ownership petition.
Yet, the new guidance now establishes the operational terrain while that petition remains pending, and for Connoisseur, that terrain is anything but simple, as the Westport, Conn.-based company has two transactions currently awaiting FCC sign-off.
