DIRECTV announced today that it will “very soon” add the right-wing opinion channel, The First, to the DIRECTV satellite lineup, DIRECTV Stream and U-verse. The addition of The First comes after House Republicans threatened to hold hearings on the TV provider’s decision this week to drop Newsmax, another conservative news outlet.
Update, January 27: The First has been added to all three services.
The First, which will be available as a free channel on all three TV services, features such programs as The Dana Show starring conservative pundit Dana Loesch, The Liz Wheeler Show and No Spin News with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
“DIRECTV values different viewpoints and perspectives and will always work to preserve expansive choice among a wide variety of entertainment and information services to appeal to the unique tastes and interests of our diverse customer base,” Rob Thun, DIRECTV’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “As we’ve successfully done with other emerging channels, we look forward to helping The First continue to expand its audience reach, while constantly ensuring that our customers receive a strong value.”
DIRECTV on Tuesday night lost the right-wing news channel, Newsmax, in a carriage dispute between the companies. (The blackout also affects DIRECTV Stream and U-verse.) The TV provider issued a statement saying that Newsmax wanted “significant” carriage fees to stay on the three TV services. The channel previously provided its signal for free, DIRECTV claimed.
But Newsmax, and a group of U.S. House Republicans, charged that DIRECTV removed the channel due to liberal bias. They noted that DIRECTV a year ago dropped OAN, another conservative news channel. It’s unclear if the addition of The First will end GOP calls to hold hearings on the Newsmax removal.
Until now, The First had been available exclusively via streaming on such free services as Pluto TV and the web. The DIRECTV agreement should help The First broaden its audience and its advertising revenue. The three DIRECTV-owned services have roughly 13 million subscribers combined.
“DIRECTV clearly recognizes the importance of offering a wide array of views and perspectives to their customers across the U.S., and we’re thrilled The First is now among them since we reach conservatives who aren’t beholden to any one party’s talking points,” said Christopher Balfe, Chief Executive officer, First TV. “We give rise to voices who are passionate about American values yet too often ignored, and now have a unique opportunity to broaden our reach without saddling DIRECTV and its customers with any added financial demands.”
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Lol so private companies can’t choose what to air on their own network? Republicans investigating? The dumb…. it burns….
Uh, did something happen to freedom of speech and the 1st Amendment? Now the Repugnants are going to challenge any news outlet that doesn’t agree with their facist, far right agenda? Will the Washington Post, New York Times and all the cable news channels other than Faux, NewsMax and OneAmerica be subjected to biased House investigations. If Direct TV put this new rinky dink network on due to Congressional pressure shame on them.
The Nazi’s have landed and have gathered at 1st and E St Washington, DC. Come watch the rich get richer and your Medicare and Social Security disappear.
You know the Reich Wing doesn’t grasp the fact that the only entity that can take away First Amendment rights is the gubbermint… Private companies can do what they want, but the Reich Wing will cry themselves til the cows come home.
If they had, they would have all been banned from the airways, you bigoted liberals have owned the media long enough
Bigoted liberals like Rupert Murdoch?
Perhaps too many valuable subscribers need a QAnon update? Or they just need more expensive placebo infomercials. Or pillows.
lol.. They just need someone that reinforces and allows them to hate who they want to hate.
So where are the Fox channels from Mission Broadcasting?
This is odd. Suddenly leftists commenting on this story are in favor of private companies choosing who they want to do business with. I guess this only applies to CATV companies and not, say, bakers.
Not putting bigots on your network is not the same as bigots not serving other human beings. Sorry this is so hard for you to grasp.
“We are not trying to de-platform Newsmax. To the contrary, we want to continue our carriage of Newsmax on the same terms as at present, and we have made that clear to Newsmax. We have been negotiating with Newsmax for months and, faced with an expiration of our current agreement, initiated a short-term extension to allow the parties additional time to come to an agreement. We continue to have discussions with Newsmax and are working in good faith to get to an agreement that we consider to be in the best interests of DIRECTV subscribers,” – Michael Hartman, General Counsel and Chief External Relations Officer for DirecTV
Pretty clear from these comments the education level of MAGA’s. There is a reason the right wing news sources write and report on a sixth grade reading and comprehension level. Anything more and their audience wouldn’t understand a thing. When this barely blue collar and unemployed segment loses their Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and has to pay a national sales tax so the wealthy Republicans can accumulate more wealth they will wonder where their food stamps and other social welfare benefits have gone. Maybe then they will use their beloved guns to kill each other instead of school children and teachers.
My suggestion:
Carry as many programmers, of many positions, as possible.
Which of course makes perfect sense and the so called “liberal media” would agree. Censorship and limiting freedom of speech and right to vote is prominent in the nut job right wing agenda.
like the entire main stream media, cnn, pbs ALL failing to ta;lk about the illegal doings of Hunter and Joe until long after the election,. This has been going on for as long as i can remember, it’s only Fox news and the few other so called right wing web sites where the truth is out there, and as much of those are buried by the liberals in power, that finger pointing at me, has 3 others and a thumb pointing back at YOU
And you don’t give a crap about Trump sitting down to dinner over Thanksgiving with a known Nazi like Nick Fuentes. A Hitler lover like Kanye. smh.. Fucking hypocrites and racists and bigots… He STILL won’t denounce Fuentes, just some lame “I didn’t know who he was” lie.. THIS is why people are abandoning MAGA… https://youtu.be/TzUIejcqjZk
“We are not trying to de-platform Newsmax. To the contrary, we want to continue our carriage of Newsmax on the same terms as at present, and we have made that clear to Newsmax. We have been negotiating with Newsmax for months and, faced with an expiration of our current agreement, initiated a short-term extension to allow the parties additional time to come to an agreement. We continue to have discussions with Newsmax and are working in good faith to get to an agreement that we consider to be in the best interests of DIRECTV subscribers,” – Michael Hartman, General Counsel and Chief External Relations Officer for DirecTV
Actually he probably is a Nazi, Klan member who buys his whets pre cut from The Pillow Man and sends half his minimum wage salary to Trump Re- Election Scam
I can’t wait until Dish takes over, Charlie doesn’t favor a political party, like Direct does, excuses every time they drop something conservatives Making remarks about certain Republican’s that could be considered on the edge of slander! Yet never a word on all the alleged lies told by your large amount of liberal stations that are all liberal democrats
But YOU make rules as to who wahat and why I HAVE to allow anyone in MY PLACE of business because YOU say so! What turns around bullshitter
b/t/w DIRECTV, YOUR NEW CHANNEL, THE FIRST DOES NOT COME WITH CC
Hey there, thom r, it seems like you’re having trouble putting together coherent sentences in the English language. Maybe I can refer you to Enlish as a Second Language courses online?
I guess, since you are a Biden clone , you can’t add 2 plus 2. Your way of thinking seems to be, if I own a business, I don’t have the right to say who I serve, where you, on the other hand can do whatever you choose with yours. Direct has dropped 2, refused to add others, (the Blaze being one) while keeping every liberal station available Oh Well!
Biden was one of my very last picks in the primaries, before you start assuming things. As for math, have you done the math in regards to Newsmax wanting too much money for their ratings?
Wait….you are expecting a MAGA with more than 6th grade reading and writing skills? Very rare! Not sure why CC matters because he can’t read.
5th grade? Must be you, since you obviously don’t want competition, Have you noticed only Fox news allows comments? cnn? hell no! msnbc? they wouldn’t dare! thats why they are Fsake news and everyone knows it. Direct keeps as much conservative news off the air as possible
Where, oh where, in your tiny little world do CNN and MSNBC not allow comments? They do on their FB pages, and on their YouTube channels.. Seems like conservatives only know how to cry, and not to set up their own networks. (Leave that to people with a little more firepower in their brains, I guess)
not on their own page, as Fox does , I’m not talking about social media, as you well know! , as far as the “math” on what Newsweek wants or doesn’t want thats bullcrap and you know that too. If a cheap ass guy like Charlie Ergin can “afford” Newsmax and the Blaze , no, this is just Direct saying we don’t want those kinds of networks
Awww show us where the bad people hurt you…. Such whiney babies…