The future looks bleak for One America News Network, which is being shut down by Verizon, the last major cable operator to operate the flashy right-wing cable channel.
OAN has been unable to reach an agreement with Verizon, which will no longer show OAN on its Fios TV service from July 31, the Daily Beast first reported. It’s another hit for San Diego-based OAN, which stopped appearing on DirecTV in April, which made up nearly half of the 35 million homes able to receive OAN over cable or satellite television.
.@CBSNews has confirmed @thedailybeast/@justinbaragonareports that OAN will be discontinued by Verizon at the end of the month. Full explanation of @Verizon under: pic.twitter.com/Q3aCIE801c
— Jake Rosen (@JakeMRosen) July 21, 2022
Verizon confirmed the report in an email to CBS MoneyWatch, with the company signaling that politics had not played a role.
“Our negotiation with OAN was typical of a business-as-usual transport negotiation that occurs routinely between content distributors and content providers,” Verizon said in its statement. “These negotiations, as always, focused on economics, but OAN could not agree on fair terms.”
OAN did not respond to a request for comment.
Founded by tech entrepreneur Robert Herring, OAN has been criticized for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election. The station, along with Newsmax, has sought out conservative viewers who believe right-wing Fox News hasn’t been sufficiently faithful to former President Donald Trump.
The Washington Post, citing internal company emails in 2017, reported that Herring instructed station staff not to write anything negative about Trump.
OAN is being sued for defamation by voting machine company Dominion, which alleges its reputation was damaged by false claims surrounding Trump’s election defeat.
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