A Bigger Heart In iHeart For Ashley Tabor-King?

The nation’s largest single owner of broadcast radio stations has asked the FCC to give its blessing to changes in its foreign ownership structure — moves that would allow new individuals and entities tied to Global Media & Entertainment Investments Ltd., to hold ownership stakes.

Among these individuals is the son of Michael Tabor, the individual who leads UK audio giant Global.

The elder Tabor, a UK citizen, controls GMEI through a Bahamas-based trust, and it already holds a significant stake in iHeart. Now, GMEI wants to transfer some, or all, of its stake in iHeartMedia to a related company, Global Media Investments Limited. This entity is also controlled by Tabor. Son Ashley Tabor-King, who leads Global and GMI, is expected to play a larger role in managing the investment.

For iHeart, it is asking the FCC to approve several individuals and companies connected to GMEI and GMI to hold more than 5% ownership in iHeart, and to allow them to increase their combined stakes up to 14.99%. The FCC first approved iHeart’s foreign ownership in 2020, with a follow-up ruling in 2021 clearing GMEI’s initial involvement. As iHeart sees it, the latest changes are small and would keep Michael Tabor as the ultimate owner. It also gives the company more flexibility for future management.

As iHeart argues, the move is in the public interest, as it believes the effort opens access to more investment and keeps partnerships with countries that are U.S. allies.

The FCC has agreed not to send the request to national security agencies for review, with the Department of Justice saying no further review is needed.

That last sentence may cause a sigh of relief from some larger radio groups, which were concerned over growing foreign ownership scrutiny in recent months. In April, Chairman Brendan Carr signaled a renewed interest in formally codifying the FCC’s foreign ownership rules, which he described as long overdue for clarification, as the “whos” behind US broadcasters come under increasingly intense scrutiny in Washington, D.C.