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One America News Network will no longer be available as part of the DirecTV lineup once its current contract expires.
The digital satellite service announced that conservative network OAN will not have its current contract renewed, which will likely happen in April, according to Bloomberg.
“DirecTV, one of the largest U.S. pay-TV providers, plans to drop One America News Network, dealing a major blow to the conservative channel that’s been criticized for spreading misinformation and had a loyal fan in former President Donald Trump,” wrote the outlet’s Gerry Smith.
“The satellite-TV provider has notified OAN’s owner, Herring Networks Inc., that it plans to stop carrying the company’s two channels when their contract expires. Herring Networks also owns AWE, a lifestyle channel that stands for ‘A Wealth of Entertainment,'” he added.
“We informed Herring Networks 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.
While OAN will still be carried by smaller pay-TV providers, DirecTV is its largest distributor and has carried the channel since April 2017 “after Herring Networks won a lawsuit that forced the satellite-TV provider to carry the channels,” Bloomberg’s report noted.
Leftists celebrated the news as OAN has long been under fire for its open support of former President Donald Trump.
In an October 2021 report, Reuters noted how the OAN’s founder and chief executive Robert Herring Sr. had testified that AT&T executives were the inspiration to launch the conservative network.
“They told us they wanted a conservative network,” Herring said during a 2019 deposition, according to Reuters. “They only had one, which was Fox News, and they had seven others on the other [leftwing] side. When they said that, I jumped to it and built one.”
“Since then, AT&T has been a crucial source of funds flowing into OAN, providing tens of millions of dollars in revenue, court records show,” Reuters noted. “Ninety percent of OAN’s revenue came from a contract with AT&T-owned television platforms, including satellite broadcaster DirecTV, according to 2020 sworn testimony by an OAN accountant.”
According to journalist Andy Ngo, “Meidas Touch, a political operative group operating on behalf of Democrats” took the credit for putting pressure on DirecTV to drop the conservative channel.
Meidas Touch, a political operative group operating on behalf of Democrats and claiming to be “pro-democracy,” takes credit for pressuring @DIRECTV into canceling @OANN. pic.twitter.com/LWMDgHTuwp
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 15, 2022
And while the predictable celebratory tweets rolled in from the left, many Twitter users slammed DirecTV for bowing to pressure.
Boycott DirecTV – cut them out. Call and drop them. They’ve chosen their side https://t.co/yQEyFbKsoe
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) January 15, 2022
Looks like @DIRECTV doesn’t believe in Democracy. The only way to have a free society is to have an educated populace. That includes allowing the expression & dissemination of opposing views. Only totalitarian governments want only one sided news (propaganda)
— Earthling (@edzsplace) January 15, 2022
Reminder re DirecTV pulling OANN—it’s not just curious given President Biden’s censorship remarks. Last year mumtiple Democrat members of Congress pressed majority owner AT&T and a number of other providers to consider bouncing OANN, Newsmax, etc. https://t.co/KqcH7fKwqa
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) January 15, 2022
Canceled @DIRECTV years ago…
— Island Law (@MWDMC) January 15, 2022
Cable providers are becoming overtly political. This is a win for the regime and its propaganda machine.
— winter (@_______winter_) January 15, 2022
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