Now don't get all anti-Soros on me but...

[Maxmars]

I found this development somewhat noteworthy...

The world of "commercial broadcast radio" has been exponentially crystalized by fewer and fewer owners...  this is a snapshot of how that happens...

A radio station "chain" goes into bankruptcy, a billionaire buys the whole lot, and suddenly... the number of owners gets smaller still...

From FoxNews: House Oversight probes FCC's expedited approval of Soros purchase of 200+ radio stations ahead of election
Subtitled: The FCC seemingly approved a deal that would 'fast-track' the left-wing billionaire's acquisition of more than 200 radio stations

I have some concerns about the whole "fast tracking" thing...  as it stood the FCC approval process doesn't allow for the 200 radio stations with a reach of millions of people to be 'useful' for political reasons... now that's suddenly no longer a problem... how did that happen?

According to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., the FCC expedited a required review of broadcast licenses by bypassing its standard procedures and processes. 

Comer and Langworthy penned a letter to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel requesting documents and communications to understand the FCC’s actions. 

Audacy Inc. owns more than 200 radio stations. Soros is attempting to purchase $415 million in debt in a chapter 11 reorganization of the company. 

Comer and Langworthy warned that Soros is a financier of organizations "advocating for speech restriction and censorship of conservatives online." 

"He will ultimately become a ‘major’ shareholder when the bankruptcy deal concludes," they wrote. 

Comer and Langworthy also warned that Soros has "sought to consolidate control over the airwaves." 

Bear in mind that ideology is woven into the report framework... there actually might be a reason for the FFC's unusual 'acceleration' of this process... but I'm sure the public will not be "too concerned" at this point... at least that's what most media will report.

Sorry Soros, not a fan of your work... but this just smells bad.

The lawmakers reminded that during a hearing before their committee, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr noted FCC rules pertaining to foreign ownership of radio stations, and how the FCC, in this case, "is not following its normal process for reviewing a transaction."

"Commissioner Carr further noted that ‘the full commission itself has never signed off on a shortcut like this. What we usually do is we require people to file a petition with us. We bring in national security agencies, they can review the foreign ownership… Here, they’re trying to do something that’s never been done before at the commission level,’" they wrote, adding that Carr "noted that the national security review could take ‘3 to 4 to 5 to 6 months’ saying further that ‘[i]t looks like we got the cart before the horse this time.’"

Comer and Langworthy said that "despite the unprecedented nature of this action, the FCC majority has apparently decided to approve licenses on an accelerated timeframe for a company in which George Soros has a major ownership stake, and with stations in 40 media markets reaching ‘more than 165 million Americans.’" 

"By all appearances, the FCC majority isn’t just expediting, but is bypassing an established process to do a favor for George Soros and facilitate his influence over hundreds of radio stations before the November election," they wrote. 

[FlyingClayDisk]

Well, having worked in radio in a previous life (younger), if there's some good news here...you don't walk into a station and change it overnight.  Radio listeners are a loyal bunch; if all of a sudden all new people show up, and the whole demographic changes (overnight, or even in a few weeks) then the listening audience will drop off to zero just as fast.  Listeners will drop a station who does this like a hot rock pulled out of a campfire.  Today, with XM, this tendency is even worse.

So, Soros can do whatever he wants, but if he thinks he's going to snatch up a bunch of conservative radio stations and switch them over to liberal propaganda and programming, well, he's got another thing coming!

First off, you can't just go out on the street corner and hire on-air talent.  It takes a license (broadcast, for radio).  So, getting replacement on-air staff isn't an overnight thing.  Plus, it takes more than just the on-air guys; it also takes program directors, studio staff and other folks.  As a general rule, they're all a pretty tight knit group so when one gets run off often times whole groups follow.  When you have a paradigm shift like what is being presented here, well, this would result in mass exodus which would mean chaos for a broadcasting station (like failure to even be able to operate).

This is definitely concerning, for sure, but I'm not sure it will have much impact on the election.  Well, not the 2024 election anyway.

Just some thoughts from experience.

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Heh, I wonder if my FCC commercial radio broadcast license is still valid?

Probably not, but I don't remember it having an expiration date.

[Maxmars]

It occurs to me that given your assessment that he can't just have the stations change their political support framework; and also assuming that they were offering a voice to conservativism in the first place... that conservative voice could still become muted or even silenced.

But it is kind of presumptuous of me to make assumptions... perhaps this is just a financial scheme that doesn't pertain to furthering an ideological agenda...

Well, maybe it isn't... but I'm still apprehensive about it.  200 radio stations that theoretically reach over a hundred million listeners is a lot of 'voice' to play around with.

I can't really attest to how this will play out... but it does strike me as worth paying attention to when the FCC (and all her political appointees) just appear to have bent over backwards to make it happen so "quickly." 

Perhaps "bent over backwards" and "quickly" are the wrong words... "laid down," and "suddenly," seem more harmonious with what they appear to have done.

I hope you find your license... we need voices like yours out there (or maybe you don't need one anymore, I don't know.) 

[FlyingClayDisk]

It occurs to me that given your assessment that he can't just have the stations change their political support framework; and also assuming that they were offering a voice to conservativism in the first place... that conservative voice could still become muted or even silenced.

But it is kind of presumptuous of me to make assumptions... perhaps this is just a financial scheme that doesn't pertain to furthering an ideological agenda...

Well, maybe it isn't... but I'm still apprehensive about it.  200 radio stations that theoretically reach over a hundred million listeners is a lot of 'voice' to play around with.

I can't really attest to how this will play out... but it does strike me as worth paying attention to when the FCC (and all her political appointees) just appear to have bent over backwards to make it happen so "quickly." 

Perhaps "bent over backwards" and "quickly" are the wrong words... "laid down," and "suddenly," seem more harmonious with what they appear to have done.

I hope you find your license... we need voices like yours out there (or maybe you don't need one anymore, I don't know.) 

Max, my reply was not intended to be contrary to your OP, but rather complimentary.  This, in the context of similar reports circulating recently and being hyped up into doom porn.  I was merely trying to put some balance into the reality of what will likely happen should such a buyout take place.

No doubt it is a disturbing development regardless of what side of the political fence one sits on.  Having large segments of the media controlled by one political ideology is never a good thing.  Balance in the media, either through objective journalism (which is laughable today), or just sheer raw competition, is critically important.  People need to be able to hear all sides of the political and ideological spectrum, and then be given the freedom to make their own decisions about which ones they feel are right for them and their futures.  This is increasingly not the case today, and the Soros backed buyout of so much of the radio spectrum is very concerning indeed.

As for me, I've often thought about getting back into the business in some capacity.  Much has changed since my days though, and there have been many improvements.  Even the talent has improved considerably.  Not too worried about finding the old paper copies of my license, if it was still valid then it would be recorded with the FCC and a simple phone call would confirm this.  I could probably even look it up online now if I was really motivated, but alas I am old now.  Remember the movie classic 'American Graffiti', where Richard Dreyfus makes his way to the radio station in the desert while trying to locate the beautiful blonde he saw earlier?  He encounters a person who alleges to be just an employee (in reality the radio personality, Wolfman Jack).  Well, that lone guy operating the radio station all alone late at night was me once.  It wasn't the 50's, rather the late 70's, but it looked much the same.  In fact, I remember watching the movie and laughing at how it was almost a mirror image.  The radio call sign was different (1360 AM KRKK, "K-Rock" in my case), but the gravel parking lot, the nondescript white studio building, and the lone streetlight in the middle of nowhere was identical.  But I digress (memory lane!  LOL!)

Regarding 'voices', I look around me today and see the plethora of different media sources people are exposed to these days and I wonder if one voice really ever gets heard.  This is probably my biggest apprehension.  It takes a lot of time and effort to put together a coherent and quality program day after day.  With the tidal wave of different choices today, what with the internet, XM, social media, radio, television, cable, and so many others, I'm not sure it would be worth it.  Regardless, there is something to be said for balance in media, and I feel this is both critically important as well as sorely missing today.

Maybe next time.

[Maxmars]

Well, truthfully, I feel that the battlefield is no longer a question of the "silencing of contrary views".

I used to think the fight for ideological primacy was expressed as a contest of ideas.  But it appears to be one of mediums.  It's almost like they fought over the concept of silencing the individual so as to dominate the discussion by excluding dissent, but then it became clear that they learned that you can't completely 'silence' anyone, so instead they sought to drown all dialogue in noise.

It's become about drowning all voices in noise.

I remember the days of AM broadcast "talk" radio very fondly... under the commercial veneer, it held great promise... until rampant commerce swelled so much as to displace the talent.  And the noise grew.

[Lynyrd Skynyrd]

Foreign billionaires with a long history of shaping US society through skeevy campaign donations, lawsuits and activist NGO's should not be permitted have any role in our society. We don't need foreign interference in our institutions.