The Federal Communications Commission will not investigate the scuttled sale of a Miami Spanish-language radio station after calls to do so from Democrat lawmakers worried about potential conservative programming.
Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., and Democrats in the state had expressed concerns to the FCC that "Caracol 1260" WSUA would be rebranded as "América Radio" with a lineup of conservative talk hosts under new owner ATV Holdings.
The sale of WSUA to ATV Holdings fell through in April, when the FCC dismissed the transfer at the request of current owner Grupo Latino de Radio-GLR.
Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC no longer was investigating the station or the proposed $350,000 deal to sell the news-talk station to Marcell Felipe's ATV Holdings Trust, Inside Radio reported.
"There are no pending investigations or inquiries regarding this transaction, as it is no longer an active matter pending before the commission," Rosenworcel said, Inside Radio reported.
"To the extent that in the future the commission receives any related complaints or petitions resulting in a new active matter before us, we will, of course, review such pleadings to determine if a new investigation is warranted."
Rosenworcel's comments came in a letter to Soto, a vocal opponent of the WSUA sale to ATV Holdings, Inside Radio reported.
Soto had asked the FCC to probe several issues raised after the station sale was announced last year, even though the transfer to new owners no longer was being pursued.
"The answers to some of these inquiries are of public importance," Soto wrote in a May letter to the FCC. "Congress has spent a significant amount of time examining issues around disinformation in the media. I am particularly concerned about Spanish-language disinformation."
In April, Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Fla., asked the FCC to reject efforts to scuttle the sale of WSUA.
"We are concerned by these attempts to impose on the FCC's independence and politicize its decisions by encouraging content-based censorship," the Florida lawmakers told the FCC in a joint letter last year.
It was reported in June that Democrat fundraisers' attempts to purchase Spanish-language radio stations was stirring up opposition in Miami, where Cuban exiles describe it as an attempt to stifle conservative voices in markets where Democrats have lost ground.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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