DirecTV cuts ties with right-wing channel OAN

By Oliver Darcy and Brian Stelter | CNN

One America News, a right-wing conspiracy channel backed by former President Donald Trump, will be phased out by DirecTV later this year, a broadcaster spokesman said Friday night.

This move will deal a huge blow to the fringe outlet. Not only will OAN be removed from the millions of households that use DirecTV as a TV provider, it will also take a major hit to revenue.

Reuters, citing sworn testimony given by an OAN accountant in 2020, reported last year that 90% of the channel’s revenue came from subscription fees charged by AT&T-owned platforms, including DirecTV pays.

While DirecTV has since been spun off as an independent company, AT&T still owns 70% of the shares. (AT&T also owns CNN, though it is severing CNN’s parent company WarnerMedia in a deal with Discovery expected to close this year.)

It is not known what percentage of the channel’s revenue currently comes from DirecTV or how many households it will reach when DirecTV stops doing so. But the network’s website only lists a handful of other national carriers, most notably Verizon FiOS.

In a statement, a DirecTV spokesperson told CNN, “We have informed Herring Networks that, following a routine internal review, we have no plans to sign a new contract given our current arrangement. we expire.”

Bloomberg news agency reported that the contract will expire in early April. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that date to CNN.

For years, OAN has promoted conspiracy theories and outright lies about a number of issues, including the results of the 2020 presidential election and the coronavirus pandemic. Trump supports the network because it is willing to improve his lies.

DirecTV’s move to cut ties comes at a time when the whole country is calculating the prevalence of misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories.