The Trump-besotted CEO of right-wing TV company One America News Network tweeted that Elon Musk was interested in buying the struggling company, but it was apparently a red herring.
The claim came in a tweet from CEO Robert Herring early June 9.
In January, AT&T’s (T) DirectTV unit declined to renew its contract to carry OANN, effectively crippling the company.
AT&T contracts generated 90% of OANN’s revenue, Reuters reported in October. A company accountant said in sworn testimony that without the DirectTV deal, the network’s value “would be zero,” Reuters reported.
Herring said in sworn testimony that OANN was created at the instance of AT&T executives in 2013, who complained that there was only one conservative network available compared to seven on the left, according to the report.
Herring's tweet about Musk appears to have either been a case of trolling or just wishful tweeting.
The Tesla (TSLA) chief offered a terse two-word response: "Only Twitter."
Musk is currently embroiled in a $44 billion takeover bid for Twitter (TWTR), but has sought to hold up the process over doubts about the number of spam and bot accounts on the social media site.
The Musk response was in sharp contrast to the jovial tone he offered in April after his interest in Twitter became known. Back then Musk joked that next he would acquire Coca-Cola (KO) and put cocaine back into the drink's recipe.
One America never achieved high rating numbers, but became a favorite of Donald Trump for its fawning coverage of him. One America personnel routinely spread conspiracy theories about covid 19 and the 2020 election. Trump's press operation allowed One America access to White House briefings over the objections of the White House Correspondents Association. The association manages the rotation of reporters covering the briefings.
