Large swaths of Western North Carolina and eastern Georgia impacted last week by Hurricane Helene and its remnants remain without cell phone service — let alone electricity, potable water and in some areas any navigable thoroughfares. This reinforced the need for broadcast media services in an emergency situation — even as stations themselves struggled to stay on the air.
While the release of the Commission's Memorandum Opinion and Order came early Monday, it was adopted in a divisive 3-2 vote on September 18, with Republicans Brendan Carr and Nate Simington vociferously disapproving the deal over Soros' ties to liberal and Democratic causes.
"With greater scale, we expect a combined DIRECTV and DISH will be better able to work with programmers to realize our vision for the future of TV, which is to aggregate, curate, and distribute content tailored to customers’ interests," DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said in a prepared statement released early Monday.
The FCC's two Republican votemakers couldn't be more irate over what detractors of the deal have labeled a "Soros short cut" to gaining financial control — and, to conservatives, editorial control — of Audacy's radio stations. Yet, the Chairwoman remains steadfast that the same process used for three of Audacy's peers was applied with its emergence from bankruptcy protection.
"While we do not take a position on the merits of this or any particular broadcast transaction, it is essential that the FCC’s regulatory processes are fair and predictable so that broadcasters can innovate and invest in their stations to the benefit of communities across the country," NAB head Curtis LeGeyt said.
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