This week, DirecTV announced that it would not be renewing its contract with One America News Network when the current contract expires in April.
The decision, which is undoubtedly motivated by partisan politics, could significantly impact OANN’s viewership. DirecTV’s refusal to renew its contract with OANN makes little sense from a business perspective considering OANN is the fourth most highly rated news network, according to Comscore.
DirecTV is primarily ran by AT&T, who has a 70% stake in the company. President Trump has pushed back against AT&T after their decision not to carry OANN and proposed a boycott at a recent rally.
The Sun Gazette Reported–
“DirecTV plans to drop One America News Network, significantly shrinking the reach of the right-wing TV channel friendly to Donald Trump and widely criticized for spreading misinformation including the former president’s false claim that he won the 2020 election.
The satellite television provider said Saturday that it has informed OAN’s owner, Herring Networks. Inc., that it will no longer carry its two channels when their contract expires. The other, AWA, is a lifestyle channel. The decision is believed to remove OAN from millions of homes.
“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,” a DirecTV spokesman said in an emailed statement.
The spokesman would not say when the contract expires, but Bloomberg News, which first reported development on Friday, said it expires in early April.
San Diego-based Herring Networks did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.”
On Saturday, President Trump spoke in defense of OANN at a rally in Arizona.
“This is horrible,” Trump said. “This is a great network. These are great people. I watch it all the time and you really get the truth. And they want to cancel them now because of politics — for purely political reasons. It’s a disgrace what’s going on.”
He added, “But I don’t think that people are gonna stand for it” and, noting the company’s founders were in the crowd, said, “Maybe what we should do is not use AT&T.”
