Media Research Center Appeals Audacy Waiver
The FCC should reconsider the foreign-ownership waiver Audacy was granted, said the Media Research Center in a petition posted Tuesday. Previously, MRC filed a petition seeking denial of Audacy's request (see 2404230054). The agency didn't show the order was in…
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the public interest and Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel "falsely asserted that her actions were backed up by precedent," said the MRC petition. Though the FCC has granted similar foreign-ownership requests linked to bankruptcies several times, MRC said those proceedings were different because not all of them involved waivers and none included a full commission vote. MRC's petition echoes Commissioner Brendan Carr's argument that bureau-level decisions don't set FCC precedent, making the Audacy order "unprecedented" even though the agency has taken similar actions several times since Carr became a commissioner. The FCC "should reconsider its grant of a waiver that creates a special [George] Soros shortcut for the takeover of Audacy, which owns the second-largest number of broadcast radio stations in the country," the petition said.