The company led by David Field isn’t commenting. Neither is the FCC. But that didn’t stop the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee from issuing a statement on Thursday confirming that all five Commissioners will decide whether or not Audacy Inc.‘s reorganization plan, which a Houston federal bankruptcy court approved in February, passes muster with regulatory policy.
It is a win for conservative Republicans in Congress including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. He’s pleased that, rather than Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer or Audio Division head Al Shuldiner be the ones to decide on delegated authority, all of the FCC’s Commissioners will honor his request that “the Soros Fund Management takeover” of Audacy be thoroughly vetted by the full Commission.
Those fears are one of the key reasons why Audacy’s emergence from debtor-in-possession status has not yet arrived, despite the bankruptcy court’s OK.
That’s not necessarily what will transpire. Rather, Soros Fund Management will be Audacy’s largest institutional investor, post-bankruptcy. Given the political affiliation and influence of George Soros, who controls the fund, GOP leaders in Washington have given extreme scrutiny to Audacy.
Although Cruz’s request is politically charged, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel moved ahead with agreeing to the full Commission vote. In the Senator’s words, citing FCC staff, “Rosenworcel initially attempted to force the license transfer through a bureau-level order.” She elevated the matter to a Commission-level vote “in response to urging by Sen. Cruz for greater accountability and requests by Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington.”
It could not be independently confirmed that both Carr and Simington are questioning Audacy’s post-bankruptcy plan.
Meanwhile, Cruz’s commentary regarding the Democratic leadership of the FCC shows that what in past years would have been approved without question, the high-charged political divisiveness that has gripped Capitol Hill for three decades has now permeated the Commission.
“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,” Cruz said. “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.”
Cruz last week urged Carr and Simington to speak up, asking for a full Commission review of the Audacy emergence from debtor-in-possession status.
Interestingly, the podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz, distributed by Premiere Networks, can be found on the Audacy platform. The on-demand show features the senator and co-host Ben Ferguson “as they break down the most important news stories of the day and reveal what they mean for you,” offering “behind the scenes” insight of “the political debates that define our country.”
