Rosenworcel Plans Full FCC Vote on Audacy Foreign Ownership Review; Cruz Claims Credit

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated to the 10th floor plans for a full commission vote on restructuring radio group Audacy’s petition for a declaratory ruling seeking expedited foreign-ownership review as part of George Soros-affiliated entities purchasing its stock (see 2404230054), a commission official confirmed to us Thursday. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, preemptively claimed credit for Rosenworcel’s decision after pressing Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington about Audacy last week (see 2408090051).

The FCC intends to place Audacy on the public circulation list Friday, officials told us. The commission declined to comment on the transaction Thursday or confirm that Rosenworcel circulated the item to commissioners. The FCC has granted waivers similar to the one Audacy seeks to other large broadcasters emerging from bankruptcy, including Alpha Media (see 2309280073) and iHeartRadio. Broadcast attorneys told us they aren’t aware of a request from any broadcaster to be more than 25% foreign owned that the FCC has denied since the commission streamlined the process in 2016.

“I am very pleased” Rosenworcel “has come to her senses and abandoned her plan to have unaccountable bureaucrats rubber-stamp George Soros’s takeover of Audacy,” Cruz said. He complained to Carr and Simington that Rosenworcel was trying to jam the Audacy deal through by giving the Media Bureau delegated authority on the matter, an action he likened to her decision to hand authority for the FCC’s review of the now-terminated Standard General/Tegna deal (see 2306010077) to Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin. Other congressional Republicans in May sought scrutiny of the Audacy deal (see 2405030072).

A full FCC vote is "a basic duty of the FCC commissioners and necessary to protect the interests of the American public” given the matter is “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,” Cruz said. “I am grateful to Commissioners Carr and Simington for working with me to bring greater transparency and accountability to the federal bureaucracy.” The GOP commissioners’ offices didn’t immediately comment.