Connoisseur Media Gets FCC Foreign Investment Approval.

The Federal Communications Commission has approved Connoisseur Media’s request to significantly expand its ability to accept foreign investment, clearing the way for the broadcaster to exceed the Communications Act’s 25% foreign ownership benchmark.

“We find that it will serve the public interest,” the FCC’s Media Bureau says in a nine-page declaratory ruling.

The move gives Connoisseur Media permission for up to 100% aggregate indirect foreign ownership, along with specific approval for two Cayman Islands investment entities and the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Oliver Price, a UK citizen, to hold indirect interests in the company. The Bureau also granted advance approval allowing the two Cayman investment funds to increase their non-controlling interests to as much as 20% each in the future.

Although Connoisseur currently remains below the statutory 25% threshold, with foreign ownership totaling 20.37% equity and no foreign voting interests, the company told the FCC that two anticipated transactions could increase indirect foreign ownership to between 30.5% and 34.38%. One involves convertible notes held by Falcon Strategic Partners, while the other stems from warrants issued during Connoisseur’s 2025 acquisition of Alpha Media.

In approving the request, the Bureau endorses Connoisseur’s argument that broader investment flexibility would strengthen its competitive position. Specifically, the Bureau said the approval is likely to provide Connoisseur “with greater flexibility to access investment capital, thereby allowing it to better compete with other media companies” while also potentially encouraging “reciprocal investment opportunities for U.S. companies in foreign markets.”

The FCC also concludes that the proposal would not change who controls the company. The Bureau notes CEO Jeff Warshaw will remain in control of Connoisseur Media and its broadcast licenses despite the expanded foreign investment authority.

Another key factor in the Bureau’s decision was the absence of national security concerns. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice advised the FCC that a formal Executive Branch review was unnecessary. The Bureau therefore chose not to refer the petition for what is commonly referend to as a “Team Telecom” review, concluding there was “no national security or law enforcement impediment to granting Connoisseur’s petition.” It also noted that no one filed comments opposing the request.

The approval does not eliminate Connoisseur’s ongoing compliance obligations. The Bureau says the company has a “duty” to monitor its foreign equity and voting interests and must obtain additional FCC approval before any new foreign investor exceeds ownership thresholds. If Connoisseur later falls out of compliance, the company must notify the Commission within 30 days and it could face enforcement action, including an order requiring divestiture of foreign investment.

The decision marks one of the first major broadcast foreign ownership approvals since the FCC overhauled and streamlined its review process earlier this year.

The Commission voted in January to make the rules under which foreign ownership review are conducted much more clear cut, including what applicants need to do get approved. The main focus was on the adoption of clear definitions and concepts underlying the foreign ownership rules. The FCC believes by bringing more clarity to the process, it will help filers provide the relevant information in their initial filings, minimizing the need for supplemental filings, and promote more efficient and shorter processing times.

Connoisseur offers a clue as to how long that process will now take. The petition was filed in late-November, and then updated in April. Connoisseur noted that the Commission earlier approved similar foreign ownership structures for broadcasters including Univision, iHeartMedia, Cumulus, and Alpha Media, which the company absorbed. That months-long process is shorter than some foreign reviews in the past that have needed a year or more to be reviewed.