Media Research Center (MRC) President Brent Bozell on Tuesday filed a formal petition with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to request that the agency not fast-track billionaire liberal George Soros' attempt to take over Audacy, the second-largest radio company in the U.S. behind iHeart Media.
Soros and his Soros Fund Management (SFM) have pushed for the FCC to approve assignment applications to become the largest shareholder in Audacy, MRC said.
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The acquisition of Audacy would give Soros 230 U.S. radio stations, including New York's WFAN and 1010 WINS, as well as Los Angeles-based KROQ, per bankruptcy filings, the New York Post reported.
"There is no question that George Soros and his affiliated businesses are looking to control these radio stations to advance their particular brand of activism," Bozell wrote in the filing.
Soros has asked the FCC to disregard the Communications Act, which requires the agency perform a "public interest" analysis before approving such an acquisition.
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"Right now, the Democrats on the Commission are trying to grease the skids to allow George Soros and his son Alex to buy skads of radio stations all across America … right before the election. I don't think that's coincidental," MRC Vice President for Free Speech America Dan Schneider said.
Soros said the FCC should use its "special warrant" process to sidestep proper review.
"The Communications Act does not contain a special Soros shortcut," Bozell said. "And the FCC should not countenance this request for one."
SFM offered to spend $400 million to acquire 40% of bankrupt Audacy's shares.
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"The Soros filings fail to demonstrate that in this case any interest in the reasonably efficient emergence from bankruptcy cannot be accommodated while also assessing the foreign ownership interests at the same time," Bozell wrote. "Instead, it appears that the Soros groups are simply trying to create an entirely new process or rule under which stations that go through bankruptcy necessarily get special treatment."
From 2016 to 2020, Soros gave more than $130 million to other media organizations to push his left-wing agenda, according to MRC. He also has given to the International Fact-Checking Network, which coordinates censorship efforts between various left-wing outlets such as The Washington Post and Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp).
A fund linked to Soros last summer joined a consortium of former lenders who paid $350 million for bankrupt Vice Media, which at its peak was valued at $6 billion, the Post reported.
In 2022, Soros backed the formation of a new Hispanic media company known as the Latino Media Network after the purchase of 10 radio stations from TelevisaUnivision. That acquisition was in response to polls showing Democrats were losing support among Latinos.
The deal didn't go over well in Miami, where Radio Mambi was popular among hardline Cuban exiles.
"We would need to be deaf and blind not to understand the motives behind this buyout," Irina Vilariño, who co-owns a chain of Cuban restaurants in South Florida, said at a news conference held by a coalition called the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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