OAN will soon be O-F-F.
A programming notice posted by DirecTV shows that the far right-wing media outlet OAN will no longer be broadcast to subscribers after Monday. The notice states that OAN content will still be available on the outlet’s website and its mobile app.
The cable channel had a good run during the Donald Trump presidency, where it shamelessly promoted the 45th president’s agenda. Trump, in turn, appeared on OAN and promoted it on social media. The conspiracy-pushing outlet remains the target of lawsuits filed by two voting-technologies companies seeking billions of dollars in damages over OAN’s coverage of alleged voting- machine irregularities.
DIirecTV announced in January that it would not be renewing its contract with OAN, which was reportedly set to expire in March. The digital satellite service entered into a deal with the One America News Network in 2017 after Herring Networks compelled it to do so with a lawsuit.
OAN did not take news of the divorce well. Host Dan Ball went on air begging viewers to bring him evidence that William Kennard, the chairman of AT&T, the parent company to DirecTV, was “cheating on his taxes, cheating on his wife (or) saying racial slurs against white people.”
On its website, OAN has a copy of a lawsuit it says it filed against Kennart, AT&T and DirectTV, claiming that taking it off the air would constitute a breach of contract. A “Where to Watch” page on OAN’s site says it is still available for viewing on platforms including KlowdTV and Verizon FiOS.
DirecTV viewers don’t need to toss-out their tinfoil hats just yet. That outlet’s website says it added conspiracy pushing Fox Nation — a Fox News spinoff — to its satellite viewing options on March 20.
Fox Nation infamously aired host Tucker Carlson’s “Patriot Purge” series in November, where the unhinged entertainer suggested the Jan. 6 attack on the Nation’s capitol may have been a government conspiracy meant to entrap right-wing zealots. Several Fox News contributors separated themselves from the network following that “report.”
Funnyman John Oliver, who took a close look at OAN on his HBO program in 2020, told the Daily News last month that the embattled network was operating as a “100-proof Fox News.” He had little doubt another bombastic outlet would emerge to fill the void left by OAN.
Trump put out a statement on March 14 urging that “the people of this Country should protest the decision to eliminate OAN, a very important voice.”
An AT&T representative confirmed the April 4 date on DirecTV’s programming note is accurate.
