Audacy Inc (from website)
George Soros is getting into radio. His Soros Fund Management has bought up $400 million of debt belonging to America’s second largest, but bankrupt, radio broadcasting firm Audacy Inc. Bloomberg reported.
If and when Audacy comes out of bankruptcy George Soros’ firm will be its largest shareholder.
George Soros must like failing enterprises. This is the second such acquisition made by Soros Fund Management in the past six months. Last summer it was one of several investors in the bankrupt Vice Media.
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Radio is dying, at least in America. It started with the Internet. And now there are all of those apps that are available and all of those podcasts. You can listen to them anywhere, anytime, on your phone, wherever you have Wi-Fi, in other words everywhere.
So why would anyone bother with the radio anymore?
In the 1980s FM was king since it had stereo and all of the latest pop music and so forth. But now people listen to music on YouTube and so forth. AM radio then made a comeback as the home for talk radio. Buy now there are all of those podcasts and the best thing is a listener does not have to tune in at a set time of day. They are always available at any time.
So, the real question that needs to be asked here is “Why is George Soros getting into radio?” Why now?
Audacy Inc. is an American audio content and entertainment company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It’s the second-largest radio company in the United States, boasting 235 radio stations across 48 media markets. The company was founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp. and rebranded as Audacy in 2021.
“The decision by our existing and new debtholders to become equity holders in Audacy represents a significant vote of confidence in our company and the future of the radio and audio business,” Audacy said in a statement about the George Soros investment.
Soros Fund Management LLC (SFM) is the principal asset manager for the Open Society Foundations (Open Society) – the world’s largest private funders of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. SFM was originally founded by George Soros in 1970, and its financial success enabled Mr. Soros to create Open Society to pursue his philanthropic vision. Today, SFM’s mission is to protect and grow Open Society’s resources. SFM invests globally in a wide range of strategies and asset classes, including public equities, fixed income, commodities, foreign exchange, alternative assets and private equity.
