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OAN shown the door by DirecTV


TheSpeedKing

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As mentioned in the article, Verizon Fios and smaller cable systems currently have OAN, and should these agreements expire without renewal, Herring already has a contingency plan (KlowdTV) but I doubt anybody but a few people would subscribe to that since most of its channels are available for free elsewhere.

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3 hours ago, GoldenShine9 said:

About the only way it survives is if Trump himself buys it and promotes it online to the MAGA base.

If that happens, then OAN will be treated like a commodity like his merchandise. Anyways, feel free to bump this thread when the channel gets pulled and we all can celebrate.

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59 minutes ago, TheSpeedKing said:

Anyways, feel free to bump this thread when the channel gets pulled and we all can celebrate.

Eyeroll. All the issues with the current cable/satellite tv models and you want to celebrate losing even more channels? Say what you want about OANN, I personally don't watch it either, but it's another option out there and serves a demographic. OAN, Black News Channel, NewsNation, whatever. If they can all make a little profit and give the viewer more options, I'm happy for them!

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2 hours ago, GodfreyGR said:

Eyeroll. All the issues with the current cable/satellite tv models and you want to celebrate losing even more channels? Say what you want about OANN, I personally don't watch it either, but it's another option out there and serves a demographic. OAN, Black News Channel, NewsNation, whatever. If they can all make a little profit and give the viewer more options, I'm happy for them!

Please do not compare OANN to those much less extreme networks on the basis of viewership. OAN promotes debunked conspiracy theories and have probably cost lives due to their distortion of news on the COVID-19 crisis. In the instances where they do air news, it’s all from a wire, unedited. I’m happy this network is losing its biggest platform.

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15 minutes ago, TheSpeedKing said:

Please do not compare OANN to those much less extreme networks on the basis of viewership. OAN promotes debunked conspiracy theories and have probably cost lives due to their distortion of news on the COVID-19 crisis. In the instances where they do air news, it’s all from a wire, unedited. I’m happy this network is losing its biggest platform.

I have a feeling that removing the Herring networks is also more about pure viewer numbers among them and AWE and it just not justifying the per-subscriber rate. AWE especially, having a programming model of obnoxious wealth when that's the last thing anyone wants to watch now. But OAN has always had a 'KUSI, but cheap, not over-the-air, and free of basic FCC guidelines' feel where they just have theories and odd news takes that can't be taken seriously, and a 'cheap' design language and layout.

 

As much as I wish for new news choice (especially a straight all-news radio-like option where they just report the news and that's it)...quality is more important to me. Even CBN News with its obvious Christian viewpoint still has quality controls, and I have no problem with their news channel at all. There needs to be basic editorial structure, and seeing as they don't really edit their wire video or scripts, OAN just has never had that basic step either.

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  • 1 month later...
On 3/14/2022 at 8:34 AM, TheSpeedKing said:

TheSpeedKing really buried the lede here, though, as the Xandr agreement was disclosed as part of a hail-mary lawsuit filed by Herring Networks in the California Superior Court on March 7, seeking to keep OAN (and AWE) on DirecTV and keep both networks from ending up like RT America (which also relied on satellite for much of its pay TV distribution), which makes many “points” that likely won’t stand up in court. The suit, which seeks an injunction barring the removal and financial damages, claims that the removal "will result in damage to Herring exceeding $1 billion".

 

ArsTechnica breaks it down:

Quote

OAN slammed for misinformation

OAN entered panic mode in January after DirecTV said it would drop the network. OAN host Dan Ball urged viewers to dig up "dirt" on Kennard, a Democrat who was the Federal Communications Commission chairman during the Clinton administration and US Ambassador to the European Union under President Barack Obama. "You bring me concrete evidence of whatever it may be: cheating on his taxes, cheating on his wife, saying racial slurs against white people," Ball said on his show, alluding to the fact that Kennard is Black. "Whatever it may be. Find it for me. Bring it, and we will air it."

 

Despite a recent spinoff, AT&T still owns 70 percent of DirecTV. The satellite TV provider announced it would drop OAN after pressure from advocacy groups who pointed out that OAN "is a major supporter of the Stop the Steal movement," "stok[ed] violent calls for the attack on the US Capitol," and airs "wall-to-wall COVID-19 disinformation." OAN was also sued by voting-machine maker Dominion, which says it was defamed when OAN aired segments that claimed the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

 

Former President Donald Trump blasted AT&T and DirecTV for dropping OAN last month, blaming "radical left lunatics" and a "Communist movement." Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and five other Republication state attorneys general last week urged DirecTV to reverse the decision, claiming that "your failure to do so will... drive many millions of Americans to simply cancel your services outright, as President Trump and other leading figures have already called for."

 

OAN and AT&T still have advertising deal

One big problem for Herring's lawsuit is that AT&T didn't break a carriage contract—it just decided not to sign a new one after the current deal expires. But Herring has a separate advertising deal with AT&T subsidiary Xandr that runs until July 2024 and claims it "reasonably" viewed this deal as "proof" that the carriage agreement would be renewed:

Herring reasonably believed that the Advertising Agreement was proof of a commitment to a long-term carriage relationship by AT&T, AT&T Services, and DirecTV. This belief was solidified by the fact that the Advertising Agreement was set to expire more than two years after the Affiliation Agreement was set to expire. Herring did not take issue with the term of the Advertising Agreement because Herring had a reasonable belief that the Affiliation Agreement would be renewed.


"Indeed, it would not make sense for AT&T Services to be the exclusive advertiser for OAN and AWE if DirecTV did not also carry OAN and AWE," the lawsuit said.

 

The ad deal struck in 2019 lets AT&T "provide both traditional advertising and programmatic targeted advertising for Herring's programs," gave AT&T "the exclusive right to sell ad space" on the networks, "and required that Herring terminate its existing media vendor," the lawsuit said. AT&T is selling Xandr to Microsoft, but the pending sale "will not include the portion of the company that sells commercials for DirecTV or OAN," according to Reuters.

 

AT&T accused of breaching confidentiality

Herring alleges that AT&T and DirecTV violated a confidentiality provision in their contract by telling the press about the April 2022 expiration date. Telling the press about its plan to not renew the contract also violated the confidentiality agreement, Herring claims.

 

Herring further alleges that AT&T "disparaged OAN in violation of the Affiliation Agreement." To support that claim, Herring pointed to CNN airing "reports and commentary that falsely accused OAN of contributing to the events of January 6, 2021, and engaging in 'disinformation' campaigns" and to criticism of OAN by John Oliver on HBO's Last Week Tonight. AT&T owns HBO and CNN through its WarnerMedia division, which it plans to spin off in a deal with Discovery.

 

"These allegations are completely without merit, particularly as they relate to AT&T and our independent Chairman," AT&T said in a statement to Ars today. AT&T did not answer a question about its plans for the ongoing ad deal with OAN.

 

OAN struggles to get on other TV providers

AT&T dropping OAN affected the channel's chances of getting on another major TV provider, OAN's lawsuit claimed:

Also after DirecTV's public announcement, OAN representatives have been told by a major MVPD [Multichannel Video Programming Distributor] that it will take [a] "wait and see" approach to adding OAN. The pre-announcement by DirecTV to not renew OAN—more than 75 days in advance—is atypical in the industry. There is no question that AT&T's and DirecTV's strategy was intended to harm OAN. By making the gratuitous announcement that breached the Affiliation Agreement, AT&T and DirecTV signaled to the public that something was wrong, hurting OAN's business and standing in the news media business. And as demonstrated above, concerns about OAN's viability directly sparked by DirecTV's aggressive, well-in-advance notification approach, have significantly harmed OAN.


OAN's website says it is still carried by Verizon FiOS, CenturyLink, and smaller providers.

 

OAN claims AT&T chair has conflict of interest

Herring's lawsuit discusses how groups like the NAACP and Media Matters urged AT&T to drop OAN, saying that AT&T caved to the pressure. Herring's complaint also discusses OAN's coverage of Trump's baseless claims that the election was stolen, saying that "OAN provided extensive coverage of the 2020 presidential election, Dominion's role in the election, and the President's pronouncements about alleged election irregularities, all of which were matters of great public concern."

 

The lawsuit Dominion filed against the news network was "an attempt to destroy Herring and silence OAN," Herring claimed, further alleging a conflict of interest for Kennard because he "serves as a member of the Executive Board of Directors of Staple Street, which is the majority owner of Dominion."

 

"Herring is confident that discovery will further demonstrate that Kennard was directly involved in DirecTV's decision to non-renew OAN and that Kennard has a personal, political, and financial interest in destruction of OAN that is inconsistent with his fiduciary obligations to AT&T shareholders," the lawsuit said, adding:

As an Executive Board member of Dominion's majority owner, Staple Street, Kennard is invested in helping to make Dominion succeed and become as profitable as possible. This includes ensuring Dominion defeats its opponents such as Herring in Dominion's defamation litigation. And one way to hasten Herring's defeat is by cutting off Herring's ability to earn revenue to help fund its defense. Kennard's role as Chairman of AT&T's Board gives Kennard significant influence over AT&T and its subsidiaries... it is obvious that AT&T—through Kennard—induced DirecTV to discontinue its relationship with Herring without legally adequate justification.

The major issues in the suit are the fact that it tries to link the separate carriage and advertising services agreements as one in the same (they’re not), claims any form of criticism against OAN’s content is in violation of the agreement (its doubtful that’s so, and is another example of right-wingers believing they should not be held accountable), and suggests that AT&T had no right to disclose when the contract would lapse (also doubtful, as most carriage contracts, like affiliation contracts with stations. usually have key terms like contract duration periods included in filings).

 

As far as other providers being scared off from carrying OAN, the network’s reputation and legal issues may have had a bigger impact on expanding carriage than DirecTV deciding against renewing the agreement, given the Dominion Voting Systems suit puts its fate into uncertainty as it stands. The only impact I see a shutdown of OAN having is it being used by Herring as an out to avoid a possible court loss in the Dominion case. (A recent NYT article even points out that some First Amendment scholars see a judgement against OAN in that suit, among others involving right-wing outlets related to the false election rigging claims in the 2020 election, as a necessary line-drawing between protected speech and disinformation.)

Edited by T.L. Hughes
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On 1/15/2022 at 7:14 PM, sanewsguy said:

God I hate the word “misinformation”, it’s very subjective these days…

Or it may just seem subjective as some people believe the misinformation to be factual, hence why they think it’s subjective. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/15/2022 at 6:19 AM, TheSpeedKing said:

Source?

Donald Trump used the words "Time Warner" in connection with DirecTV's pulling of OANN, despite there having been no company with that name since 2018, and there being no cable company with that name since the Charter purchase in 2016. Who do we blame more: the confused former president, or the journalist from The Independent who believed he was talking about Time Warner Cable (depite there being no evidence that it or Spectrum ever carried the channel)?

Edited by AmericanErrorist
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50 minutes ago, AmericanErrorist said:

Donald Trump used the words "Time Warner" in connection with DirecTV's pulling of OANN, despite there having been no company with that name since 2018, and there being no cable company with that name since the Charter purchase in 2016. Who do we blame more: the confused former president, or the journalist from The Independent who believed he was talking about Time Warner Cable (depite there being no evidence that it or Spectrum ever carried the channel)?

Clearly the latter. It just lazy journalism. Fact checking is key...and the former president shouldn't be your go-to as a source.

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