One America News Network is still operating but only just barely. Dropped from DirecTV, they'll have just lost 90% of their operating revenue and will struggle to exist on small local carriers. Likely, they'll be gone for good in a few months, if not sooner.
Source: Adweek
DirecTV will drop far-right cable news outlet One America News Network on Tuesday, April 4, according to Bloomberg’s Gerry Smith.
The satellite TV cable behemoth said earlier this year that it planned to no longer carry OAN, which was criticized for spreading false information about the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 presidential election, and its general spread of conspiracy theories, once its contract expires. OAN began airing on DirecTV in April 2017.
DirecTV is going through with the move despite Herring Networks Inc., which owns and operates OANN, having sued parent company AT&T on March 7, seeking $1 billion in damages, alleging that the removal of the network from the satellite service was politically inspired and “could be devastating” financially. Court records have shown that about 90% of OAN’s revenue is generated from its AT&T/DirecTV deals.
Republicans fought valiantly to keep their bullshit propaganda resource on air but alas it was to no avail.
After DirecTV's January announcement, OAN host Dan Ball urged viewers to dig up "dirt" on AT&T Board Chairman William Kennard and to "Call AT&T's support line. Complain, raise hell, email, phone call daily, every hour, set the alarm on your phone, blow the phone lines up, demand they keep OAN—this is censorship at its best."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and five other Republican state attorneys general last month urged DirecTV to reverse its decision, claiming that "your failure to do so will not only cause you to lose millions of dollars in business, but also drive many millions of Americans to simply cancel your services outright, as President Trump and other leading figures have already called for."
Another letter from West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey accused DirecTV of caving to Democratic members of Congress, referencing the letter from Eshoo and McNerney. "The last thing our country needs right now is corporate censorship of conservative voices at the behest of members of Congress and others seeking to cut off debate by limiting the reach of those that disagree with them," Morrisey wrote.
US Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) also called on DirecTV to keep OAN, saying "the lack of transparency with the viewers of OAN in Montana in your decision-making process is unacceptable and has the appearance of targeting supporters of former President Donald Trump."
And with 90% of their revenue gone, OAN is officially crippled and at death's door.
