TV Answer Man, I don’t want DIRECTV to cancel the OAN channel which has the best news by far. But I know it’s coming. Do you know what the last day is, when DIRECTV will actually take the channel away? It will make me sad. — Marie, Statesville, North Carolina.
Marie, DIRECTV announced in January that it would drop the conservative One America News (OAN) when its current carriage agreement with the news channel expires. (DIRECTV Stream and U-verse will also cut the channel from their lineups.)
“We informed Herring Networks (OAN’s owner) that, following a routine internal review, we do not plan to enter into a new contract when our current agreement expires,” DIRECTV said in a statement.
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OAN, which has been a favorite channel of former President Trump, has been a political thorn in DIRECTV’s side since Reuters reported last October that AT&T encouraged Robert Herring, the owner of Herring Networks, to start the news channel several years ago. (AT&T was then the sole owner of DIRECTV. The communications giant has since sold a 30 percent minority stake to private equity firm, TPG.)
The Reuters story triggered a wave of criticism towards AT&T from liberals who say the communications giant is responsible for creating a news channel that Democrats (and even some Republicans) allege engages in purposeful disinformation on topics such as vaccine effectiveness, the 2020 presidential election and the Covid-19 pandemic. OAN denies the charge, saying that it’s simply offering viewpoints that differ from those held by their opponents.
While DIRECTV has not said politics is behind its decision to remove OAN, it seems clear that it’s at least a factor. AT&T, like any large corporation, needs support in Washington and the nation’s capital is now ruled by the Democratic Party which is not fans of OAN.
So when will DIRECTV drop OAN, you ask?
The satcaster says both OAN and the Herring-owned A Wealth of Entertainment will be removed after April 4.
Of course, Herring and OAN are suing AT&T and DIRECTV over the removal, but it’s unlikely that the legal action will change the April 4 deadline.
Marie, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
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One must take into account that OAN,NewsMax, Fox News and others like them, claim to have an opposite viewpoint from other so-called news outlets. Stephen Colbert, on his old show The Colbert Report, referred to said verbiage as “truthiness”. Their constant blabber regarding the 2020 election, fraud and stolen, caused some viewers to make death threats against employees of a voting software company contracted for said election. The company in question sued OAN and NewsMax for $1 billion each. Shortly thereafter both OAN and NewsMax posted retractions on-air. We’re pretty sure that had something to do with DirecTV’s decision to drop OAN.
Actually, the lies told by colbert, and every other liberal tv talking head, are so far worse than any opinions by conservatives…. the entire main stream media, nbc, cbs, abc, pbs All support the democratic party. They, alone, not the debates , were how Biden was elected Was there hanky panky going on? We know for a fact they did everything in their power to elect HRC, including buying made up tapes from russia to defame Trump… If any networks should be shut down for mis information its cnn, msnbc for starters
No disagreement when you infer that the media, in general, can be disingenuous. They are not in the business of informing us but, instead entertaining us. Twisting facts, engaging half-truths or just fibbing are the norm. The bottom line (ad revenue) is the bottom line. Verification of information is something we, as members of society, for the most part, don’t have the time or the energy to engage. We tend to use our tribal affiliations as the sifter because it fits our nurtured perspective, guilty as charged. The powers that be take advantage of this by using social labels in order to pit us against each other, as a distraction, so they can perpetuate their agendas. The technique, known as divide and conquer, has been used many times in history. We instead, myself included, choose the route of “agree to disagree” so we can remain civil and germinate what we can agree on. Thanks to the TV Answer Man, a precious jewel, we can get truthful-based perspectives that inform and educate. In regards to OAN and DirecTV, the latter noticed a thorn in the side of their revenue stream caused by viewer and sponsor blow back related to the content OAN was disseminating. For those that enjoy OAN programming, they are available on various FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) platforms (Pluto TV, Plex, Xumo, etc.).
You need help. OAN found a sucker in viewers like you.
Marie, buy a Roku or other streaming device and drop Directv. There are many streaming options, many that are free, and you should have no problem finding quality programming including OAN. I dropped cable one and a half years ago and I’ll never go back.
You are so correct sir Timothy of Clark. The FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) category has grown to over 1000+ channels and continues to expand. Along with AVOD (Ad-Supported Video On Demand), a major shift in content consumption is in play. Free is free and consumers are responding.
If Directv is dropping OAN because it presented deliberately false news and opinions then how come it is not dropping CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS news all of which deliberately presented false news and opinions about Trump/Russian collusion?