RADIOFebruary 23, 2024

WARNING: George Soros and The FCC Are DISMANTLING Talk Radio

The mainstream media is collapsing as Vice Media and CBS News announce major changes. But now, progressives have talk radio in their sights. Glenn reviews the latest changes to the world of radio that could dismantle the entire system and crush free speech: George Soros is on the verge of taking control of Audacy, the second largest broadcaster in America; An investor based in Singapore is trying to take over Cumulus Media, the third largest broadcaster; And the FCC is forcing all broadcasters to start posting a race and gender scorecard on the demographics of their workforce. This is all an attempt to crush one of the last bastions of free speech, Glenn says.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I want to give a mile-marker. I feel that part of my job is to inform you.

What direction are we going in? And how fast are we going?

Let me give you a couple of stories that are gravely, gravely concerning.

I told you, last week, the Soros fund management, you know, run by billionaire George Soros and his son. Have now taken control or are on the verge of taking control of Audacy.

Audacy is the second largest broadcaster in America. Only iHeartRadio owns more.

And thank God, at this point, i Heart media. IHeartRadio has the Premiere Radio networks.

I've worked for this company in one way or another, since 1989.

They are my partner with this broadcast. And they have been always very, very supportive. If it wasn't for my partners, Julie Talbot and Dan Meador, and all of the people at i Heart media, who have just -- this show wouldn't be heard anywhere.

So i Heart is the only one, right now, not under attack.

And I will tell you about this. First, Audacy. Audacy amassed $1.9 billion in debt. They filed for bankruptcy.

And now Soros is taking on the -- the fund, and they will be the largest shareholder, once the bankruptcy proceedings conclude. Where are we?
They're dismantling radio.

And buying radio up. Now, Soros has already bought, what?

Last year. I think 50 radio stations that were all Spanish-speaking.

Gee. Isn't that interesting?

Now he's buying up, the second largest broadcaster in America.

Audacy owns 220 stations. News Talk, in New York. Chicago. Los Angeles. All some of the biggest news talk stations in the country.

They own the -- the radio stations, including KDWM, in Las Vegas.

Ph.D. Philadelphia.

KDK in Pittsburgh. They have Dana Loesch on many other stations. They have Sean Hannity. Mark Levin. And George Soros has spent more than $21 billion over the last few decades.

He spent 1.3 billion in 2022 alone.

Most of that cash went to left-wing causes, including Media Matters, Planned Parenthood, the Sunrise Movement.

He is the guy who has put in the radical DAs. And the radical attorneys general.

And now, what?

He's buying up talk radio. Why would you do that?

Why would you buy all of these broadcasts?

It seems like it's a failing industry, right? It's not.

It's not. About 80 percent of the people, till listen to radio.

80 percent. That's incredible. You think -- nobody listens to the radio. 80 percent still listen to the radio.

Okay. So that is the second largest broadcaster, now going to George Soros.

Then we have this.

Cumulus. Cumulus used to be the ABC radio network. It used to be the largest. Now, I think it is the third largest.

Cumulus is facing a takeover from an investor based in Singapore.

Part of the process of their bankruptcy. It has asked for, and received from the FCC permission to become as much as 100 percent foreign-owned.

So the third largest broadcaster, is about to go to a Singapore Holdings Company.

How does this bid, for America?

You have George Soros, and a Singapore can. And then i Heart, all alone.

But don't worry, news for radio gets even better. Yesterday, Brenden Carr, he's an FCC commissioner. He came out and said, the FCC has just ordered every broadcaster to start posting a race and gender scorecard, that breaks down the demographics of their workforce.

Activist lobbied for this, because they want to see businesses pressured into hiring people based on their race and gender. Courts have already overturned the FCC twice for pressuring broadcasters to making hiring decisions in violation of the Constitution.

I dissent.

This is a shot across our bow now, if the Supreme Court doesn't stop them again. We will now, if I want to be on radio, have to disclose, by the way.

I don't have a problem doing this.

I'm almost 2 percent Native American.

So I'm a minority, inside of a minority.

Anyway, we have to start hiring, based on gender and everything else.

I don't care what, you know, male, female. I don't care who you sleep with. I don't care what color you are.

I really don't.

I want to know what's inside of your head.

I want to know, how you think.

Can you bring something different, that I don't bring to the table?

That's how I hire.

Can you fit what your different thinking is, into what I'm trying to accomplish?

If you can, great!

We're going to work together forever.

Most of the people, that I work with, and I apologize for this. Spend their life with me.

STU: Sort of feels that way.

GLENN: Because we have a good working relationship. We all respect each other. Again, except for Stu.

This is really, and let me give you another one. This is not about radio.

Vice media, stops publishing on Vice.com. Slashes hundreds of jobs, amid mainstream media death spiral.

So all of these mainstream media companies, they're all -- did you hear about CBS?

And Catherine Herridge -- how do you say her name?

Herridge. Right? I can't remember.

Anyway, worked with her at Fox. We were obviously very close.

But she's very, very credible.

She's worked -- I don't agree with her all the time. But she's an actual journalist.

And CBS News they just threw her out.

She's gone. Now, they're saying, that's we've laid lots of people off, recently.

Because we're collapsing.

STU: That's their argument. For themselves.

GLENN: Yeah. We're collapsing.

Okay. Well, maybe. Or maybe a real journalist just isn't welcomed there anymore.

I don't know.

But everything, all of the media, what I said to Stu. And when we were at the height of Fox. I said, we have to get out of here.

And everybody is like, what?

Everybody works their whole life to get here. And I'm like, we have to get out of here.

I said, this whole thing is going to burn itself down. It's all going to collapse.

And here we are. It's all collapsing.

But as I said at the time as well, if you're here, while it collapses, and you'll survive, you'll then be working for the government.

Because all of these people, will get bail. They'll get bailed out by the federal government.

We can't. These institutions are far too important. This has it goes back to your Cloward and Piven stuff from yesterday.

It's worth watching. If you go to your Blaze TV account. You can watch it on demand.

It's one of those situations.

Vice is a great example of this.

How many articles did vice write about how your career and life were collapsing.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

Over and over again.

STU: Over and over again.

And all these companies, writing for years. About how conservative media personalities were going to flame out, and their businesses were going to collapse, are now all gone.

They're just -- they've all either dissolved. Or fired all their people. And AI is writing their articles.

It is, sure, satisfying. For me. But it is -- it is embarrassing for them, I would assume.

It's -- I don't know. Maybe they've all just -- they all moved on. They're all taking money from the government. And living at home now.

Or working from home now.

I don't know. It doesn't seem like they're able to keep any of these things afloat.

How much -- how much money did Vice get?

Billions and billions of dollars.

Of just free investment cash. Dumped into that place.

GLENN: Can you imagine if we would have had hundred --

STU: Oh, my gosh.

GLENN: Hundred million. Just 100 million. Compared to the billions that they had.

Just 100 million -- 50 million in investment.

Can you imagine what we could have done with it? Because we wouldn't have wasted it. They just wasted it.

STU: Gone.

GLENN: Gone.

STU: And this is also while they're producing shows for HBO. I mean, they were handed a media empire, with let's be honest, no valid reason to be handed a media empire.

I mean, like, vice did some interesting stuff early on.

They were kind of the different. They just turn into the typical left-wing news source.

And we were supposed to sit here and be like, oh, wow. This is amazing. It's innovative.

Let's just throw money at these people. What do they do?

The place is gone, basically.

GLENN: We sat there, for I don't know how many meetings. I sat there with big, big companies, that were trying to figure out, how we were doing it.

And at the time, we were doing it, more right than anybody else. We were still wrong.

And we had no margin of error. Because it was all on me.

And they were trying to figure out, you know, what do we do? What do we do?

And I remember sitting in meetings going, your numbers don't make sense. I'm sorry, guys. I'm not an accountant. I'm not a good businessman.

But I can look at this. You're selling what for what? And how do you even know that's true?

And it was all hype. It was all hype.

Now all that hype is over. And it's all falling apart. The mainstream media is falling apart.

And look what's happening.

You know, I mean, said recently, it's been quiet, on the western front.

It's been all quiet for quite some time in talk radio.

Haven't really had any attacks on talk radio. Been squished with digital. But on talk radio, haven't had a single problem.

That's new.

What was that all about?

They forget about us?

No. No. They're just going to take it.

They're just going to take it in public/private partnerships. And the left, because our billionaires do nothing.

Honest to God, our billionaires who believe in America, the only one that I know, that is actually putting his money where his mouth is. Is Donald Trump.

I mean, there is a handful.

STU: Yeah. I don't agree with that. There are some of these guys, very active. Not always publicly.

GLENN: Yes. But George Soros.

I mean, if you're going to stand up, stand up. Stand up.

You want to stay in the shadows? That's fine.

And I thank you for it. But get your friends to stand up. Why isn't -- we know the power of talk radio.

We know the power of radio. Where are our billionaires? Why aren't they stepping to the plate?

Why?

Anyway, I want you to do me a favor.

I want you to support your local radio station. The station that is -- is running this program.

Please, support them. Please, buy the advertising.

If you -- I'm not asking to you buy something you don't need.

If you hear somebody advertising.

Something like, okay. I need that.

Or I'm looking at that. Please, go to that store, or whatever.

Local radio is critical. Critical.

You've got to have a local radio station. That is not controlled by the Borge (phonetic).

We thank our sponsors, and we thank our local radio stations. Our affiliates. You're the heart of us. Thank you.

Shocking train video: Passengers wait while woman bleeds out

Surveillance footage of the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, reveals that the other passengers on the train took a long time to help her. Glenn, Stu, and Jason debate whether they were right or wrong to do so.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I'm -- I'm torn on how I feel about the people on the train.

Because my first instinct is, they did nothing! They did nothing! Then my -- well, sit down and, you know -- you know, you're going to be judged. So be careful on judging others.

What would I have done? What would I want my wife to do in that situation?

STU: Yeah. Are those two different questions, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

STU: I think they go far apart from each other. What would I want myself to do. I mean, it's tough to put yourself in a situation. It's very easy to watch a video on the internet and talk about your heroism. Everybody can do that very easily on Twitter. And everybody is.

You know, when you're in a vehicle that doesn't have an exit with a guy who just murdered somebody in front of you, and has a dripping blood off of a knife that's standing 10 feet away from you, 15 feet away from you.

There's probably a different standard there, that we should all kind of consider. And maybe give a little grace to what I saw at least was a woman, sitting across the -- the -- the aisle.

I think there is a difference there. But when you talk about that question. Those two questions are definitive.

You know, I know what I would want myself to do. I would hope I would act in a way that didn't completely embarrass myself afterward.

But I also think, when I'm thinking of my wife. My advice to my wife would not be to jump into the middle of that situation at all costs. She might do that anyway. She actually is a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

STU: Yes. But that would not be my advice to her.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Now, maybe once the guy has certainly -- is out of the area. And you don't think the moment you step into that situation. He will turn around and kill you too. Then, of course, obviously. Anything you can do to step in.

Not that there was much anyone on the train could do.

I mean, I don't think there was an outcome change, no matter what anyone on that train did.

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

Of course. If she felt she was safe, yes.

Think about, you said, your wife. Think about your daughter. Your daughter is on that train, just watching someone else getting murdered like that. Would you advise your daughter to jump into a situation like that?

That girl sitting across the aisle was somebody's daughter. I don't know, man.

JASON: I would. You know, as a dad, would I advise.

Hmm. No.

As a human being, would I hope that my daughter or my wife or that I would get up and at least comfort that woman while she's dying on the floor of a train?

Yeah.

I would hope that my daughter, my son, that I would -- and, you know, I have more confidence in my son or daughter or my wife doing something courageous more than I would.

But, you know, I think I have a more realistic picture of myself than anybody else.

And I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. I know what I would hope I would do. But I also know what I fear I would do. But I would have hoped that I would have gotten up and at least tried to help her. You know, help her up off the floor. At least be there with her, as she's seeing her life, you know, spill out in under a minute.

And that's it other thing we have to keep in mind. This all happened so rapidly.

A minute is -- will seem like a very long period of time in that situation. But it's a very short period of time in real life.

STU: Yeah. You watch the video, Glenn. You know, I don't need the video to -- to change my -- my position on this.

But at his seem like there was a -- someone who did get there, eventually, to help, right? I saw someone seemingly trying to put pressure on her neck.

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

STU: You know, no hope at that point. How long of a time period would you say that was?

Do you know off the top of your head?

GLENN: I don't know. I don't know. I know that we watched the video that I saw. I haven't seen past 30 seconds after she --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- is down. And, you know, for 30 seconds nothing is happening. You know, that is -- that is not a very long period of time.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

STU: And especially, I saw the pace he was walking. He certainly can't be -- you know, he may have left the actual train car by 30 seconds to a minute. But he wasn't that far away. Like he was still in visual.

He could still turn around and look and see what's going on at that point. So certainly still a threat is my point. He has not, like, left the area. This is not that type of situation.

You know, I -- look, as you point out, I think if I could be super duper sexist for a moment here, sort of my dividing line might just be men and women.

You know, I don't know if it's that a -- you're not supposed to say that, I suppose these days. But, like, there is a difference there. If I'm a man, you know, I would be -- I would want my son to jump in on that, I suppose. I don't know if he could do anything about it. But you would expect at least a grown man to be able to go in there and do something about it. A woman, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

GLENN: Here's the thing I -- here's the thing that I -- that causes me to say, no. You should have jumped in.

And that is, you know, you've already killed one person on the train. So you've proven that you're a killer. And anybody who would have screamed and got up and was with her, she's dying. She's dying. Get him. Get him.

Then the whole train is responsible for stopping that guy. You know. And if you don't stop him, after he's killed one person, if you're not all as members of that train, if you're not stopping him, you know, the person at the side of that girl would be the least likely to be killed. It would be the ones that are standing you up and trying to stop him from getting back to your daughter or your wife or you.

JASON: There was a -- speaking of men and women and their roles in this. There was a video circling social media yesterday. In Sweden. There was a group of officials up on a stage. And one of the main. I think it was health official woman collapses on stage. Completely passes out.

All the men kind of look away. Or I don't know if they're looking away. Or pretending that they didn't know what was going on. There was another woman standing directly behind the woman passed out.

Immediately springs into action. Jumps on top. Grabs her pant leg. Grabs her shoulder. Spins her over and starts providing care.

What did she have that the other guys did not? Or women?

She was a sheepdog. There is a -- this is my issue. And I completely agree with Stu. I completely agree with you. There's some people that do not respond this way. My issue is the proportion of sheepdogs versus people that don't really know how to act. That is diminishing in western society. And American society.

We see it all the time in these critical actions. I mean, circumstances.

There are men and women, and it's actually a meme. That fantasize about hoards of people coming to attack their home and family. And they sit there and say, I've got it. You guys go. I'm staying behind, while I smoke my cigarette and wait for the hoards to come, because I will sacrifice myself. There are men and women that fantasize of block my highway. Go ahead. Block my highway. I'm going to do something about it. They fantasize about someone holding up -- not a liquor store. A convenience store or something. Because they will step in and do something. My issue now is that proportion of sheepdogs in society is disappearing. Just on statistical fact, there should be one within that train car, and there were none.

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

STU: We see what happens when they do, with Daniel Penny. Our society tries to vilify them and crush their existence. Now, there weren't that many people on that train. Right?

At least on that car. At least it's limited. I only saw three or four people there, there may have been more. I agree with you, though. Like, you see what happens when we actually do have a really recent example of someone doing exactly what Jason wants and what I would want a guy to do. Especially a marine to step up and stop this from happening. And the man was dragged by our legal system to a position where he nearly had to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I mean, I -- it's insanity. Thankfully, they came to their senses on that one.

GLENN: Well, the difference between that one and this one though is that the guy was threatening. This one, he killed somebody.

STU: Yeah. Right. Well, but -- I think -- but it's the opposite way. The debate with Penny, was should he have recognize that had this person might have just been crazy and not done anything?

Maybe. He hadn't actually acted yet. He was just saying things.

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

STU: He didn't wind up stabbing someone. This is a situation where these people have already seen what this man will do to you, even when you don't do anything to try to stop him. So if this woman, who is, again, looks to be an average American woman.

Across the aisle. Steps in and tries to do something. This guy could easily turn around and just make another pile of dead bodies next to the one that already exists.

And, you know, whether that is an optimal solution for our society, I don't know that that's helpful.

In that situation.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Disclaimer: This episode was filmed prior to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But Glenn believes Max's message is needed now more than ever.
The political world is divided, constantly at war with itself. In many ways, our own lives are not much different. Why do we constantly focus on the negative? Why are we in pain? Where is God amid our anxiety and fear? Why can’t we ever seem to change? Pastor Max Lucado has found the solution: Stop thinking like that! It may seem easier said than done, but Max joins Glenn Beck to unpack the three tools he describes in his new book, “Tame Your Thoughts,” that make it easy for us to reset the way we think back to God’s factory settings. In this much-needed conversation, Max and Glenn tackle everything from feeling doubt as a parent to facing unfair hardships to ... UFOs?! Plus, Max shares what he recently got tattooed on his arm.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

This week has seen some of the most heinous actions in recent memory. Glenn has been discussing the growth of evil in our society, and with the assassination of civil rights leader Charlie Kirk, the recent transgender shooter who took the lives of two children at a Catholic school, and the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, how can we make sense of all this evil? On today's Friday Exclusive, Glenn speaks with BlazeTV host of "Strange Encounters" Rick Burgess to discuss the demon-possessed transgender shooter and the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Rick breaks down the reality of demon possession and how individuals wind up possessed. Rick and Glenn also discuss the dangers of the grotesque things we see online and in movies, TV shows, and video games on a daily basis. Rick warns that when we allow our minds to be altered by substances like drugs or alcohol, it opens a door for the enemy to take control. A supernatural war is waging in our society, and it’s a Christian’s job to fight this war. Glenn and Rick remind Christians of what their first citizenship is.