Cotton to Rosenworcel: Rushed approval of Soros Fund Management - Audacy deal raises questions

Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today wrote a letter to Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Chairwomen Jessica Rosenworcel concerning the purchase of more than 200 radio stations by Soros Fund Management (SFM). The rushed approval of SFM’s purchase of Audacy raises concerns about the FCC’s process, its impartiality, and the risks to our national security. 

In part, Senator Cotton wrote:

“The FCC’s approval process for large acquisitions of radio stations generally takes a year or more to complete and is subject to a national-security review if foreign-company ownership exceeds 25 percent. In this case, however, the FCC reportedly attempted to approve the SFM transaction with only 48 hours’ notice. Reports also indicate that no other commissioners aside from you were invited to opine on the issue before staff handled it on the Commission’s behalf. Moreover, SFM requested to bypass the traditional national-security review, despite raising $400 million for the purchase with foreign investments.”

Full text of the letter may be found here and below.

October 10, 2024

Jessica Rosenworcel
Chairwoman
Federal Communications Commission
45 L Street NE
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chairwoman Rosenworcel,

I write regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to expedite Soros Fund Management’s (SFM) purchase of more than two hundred radio stations just weeks before a critical presidential election.

The FCC’s approval process for large acquisitions of radio stations generally takes a year or more to complete and is subject to a national-security review if foreign-company ownership exceeds 25 percent. In this case, however, the FCC reportedly attempted to approve the SFM transaction with only 48 hours’ notice. Reports also indicate that no other commissioners aside from you were invited to opine on the issue before staff handled it on the Commission’s behalf. Moreover, SFM requested to bypass the traditional national-security review, despite raising $400 million for the purchase with foreign investments.

This decision affects over 165 million monthly listeners on Audacy—a network that includes conservative programming like Sean Hannity, Dana Loesch, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, and Erick Erickson. It would be naive to think the timing is coincidental, or that a Soros-funded network would impartially manage conservative talk shows in the weeks before the election. The FCC’s rushed approval of SFM’s purchase raises significant concerns about the FCC’s process, its political impartiality, and the risks to our national security.

I urge the FCC to use its traditional process outlined by Section 310 of the Communications Act. Accordingly, please respond to the below questions by ___

1. Under existing FCC rules, foreign-company ownership of U.S. radio stations should not exceed 25 percent. Did SFM request to bypass the national-security evaluation? If so, did you approve it?

2. What other exceptions to the existing rule regarding foreign-ownership of U.S. radio stations have occurred during your tenure as Chairwoman?

3. Who was invited to opine on SFM’s purchase of Audacy?

4. What efforts were made to undergo a legitimate public-interest analysis?

Sincerely,

Tom Cotton

U.S. Senator

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin co-leads challenge to federal rule that would reduce monitoring of prisoners' calls

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement after he and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a lawsuit on behalf of Arkansas, Indiana, and 12 other state attorneys general challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new rule that regulates phone service providers in prisons:

“The FCC can’t dictate to Arkansas prisons how they negotiate cost-sharing agreements with service providers, and it can’t arbitrarily and capriciously pre-empt state laws regulating prison operations. Funds derived from inmate phone use go toward covering needed security measures. Without proper security measures, what would stop inmates from conducting criminal operations over the phone? The FCC’s regulations are disconnected from the economic and practical reality of providing communication services to inmates, and they exceed the FCC’s statutory authority.

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“If these regulations go into effect, no one will benefit because prisons won’t be able to provide adequate security for phone calls prisoners make, and prisons may simply discontinue existing communication services, which means inmates won’t be able to make calls at all.”

Prisons negotiate contracts with communications service providers based on rate caps set by the FCC and use their portion of the revenue from these contracts to fund security measures and services that benefit inmates, including access to online legal libraries and remote religious services. The FCC’s new rule drastically reduces the rate caps, thereby making it nearly impossible for prisons to continue to invest in security measures to monitor calls.

Joining Griffin and Rokita on the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia.

To read a copy of the complaint, click here.

Arkansas State Broadband Office starting months-long mapping challenge

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

The Arkansas State Broadband Office will launch its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) mapping challenge process on Wednesday, March 20.

The months-long process will enable stakeholders in Arkansas to challenge the accuracy of the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map and the levels of internet service reported at homes and businesses throughout the state. Stakeholders will be able to challenge data provided by the map but must submit evidence of the inaccuracies.

Eligible challengers in this process include units of local government, nonprofit organizations, and internet service providers, under federal BEAD program regulations.

Arkansas State Broadband Office starting months-long mapping challenge

Arkansas to begin identifying areas lacking broadband internet access

KUAR | By Daniel Breen

Federal officials are asking for Arkansas residents’ help identifying which parts of the state still lack access to high-speed internet.

Arkansas is receiving more than $1 billion from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment, or BEAD, program, administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Evan Feinman, director of the BEAD program, says the state first needs to identify which areas are currently lacking access.

“Every single home and business is on a map the [Federal Communications Commission] publishes. And the FCC’s map shows whether those homes and businesses have broadband service, or don’t. The problem is, that map’s not always accurate,” he said. “What we’re doing… is offering folks the opportunity to challenge that map and make sure their home or business is properly categorized.”

Arkansas to begin identifying areas lacking broadband internet access

Ted S. Warren/AP

Carl Roath, left, a worker with the Mason County (Wash.) Public Utility District, pulls fiber optic cable off of a spool, as he works with a team to install broadband internet service to homes in a rural area surrounding Lake Christine near Belfair, Wash., on Aug. 4, 2021.

UAMS Receives $1 Million FCC Grant to Enroll Arkansans in Affordable Connectivity Program for Broadband Internet

By Benjamin Waldrum

LITTLE ROCK — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) awarded the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) $1 million to fund outreach for the commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps ensure that households across America have access to broadband internet.

The FCC created the Affordable Connectivity Program to help households struggling to pay for internet service. The benefit provides up to $30 per month for internet service and a one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop computer or tablet purchased through participating providers.

“The UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation is committed to seeing affordable, easily accessible broadband in homes throughout Arkansas, and this funding will allow us to collaborate with other leaders statewide to do just that,” said Roy Kitchen, executive director for UAMS e-Link and the principal investigator on the grant.

https://news.uams.edu/2023/07/11/uams-receives-1-million-fcc-grant-to-enroll-arkansans-in-affordable-connectivity-program-for-broadband-internet/

Attorney General Rutledge Continues to Combat robocalls with FCC and 40 states

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge joins 40 other attorneys general acknowledging the Federal Communications Commission’s ongoing work to combat robocalls. In the letter attorneys general sent to the Commission, they recognized the FCC’s work encouraging states to join information-sharing agreements and collaboratively address complex robocalls issues.

“I have long been determined to end incessant robocalls and protect Arkansans from these con artists,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Even though we have made strides to stop these illegal calls, we still have a long way to go, and I am hopeful a combined effort with states and the FCC will continue to combat and eliminate robocalls.”

Attorney General Rutledge has led the national effort by state attorneys general to demand stronger oversight by the FCC by requiring telecommunication providers to aggressively block illegal robocalls before they reach consumers. Rutledge has consistently pushed the FCC to implement rules and policies to make telephone carriers more responsible to identify and block these calls and to hold the providers liable for allowing these calls to pass through their networks. Rutledge brought together state and federal partners, as well as representatives of the telecommunications industry, to develop effective and innovative methods to stop the scourge of these persistent calls.

Along with Rutledge, 40 other states and territories signed the letter. They are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.