The ball appears to be in Verizon’s court.
Far-right media outlet One America News Network has only days to work out a new deal with the communications giant, which is the only major cable provider still doing business with the doggedly Trumpian channel. If a deal is not reached, OANN, which Emmy Award winner John Oliver described to the Daily News as 100-proof Fox News, will all but disappear from the televisions of most cable news viewers.
Watchdog group Media Matters, which monitors outlets like OANN and Fox News, reports that Verizon Fios subscribers have recently seen a message on their screens stating OANN’s parent company, Herring Networks, is in negotiations with the cable company that the Daily Beast said had only 3.7 million subscribers last fall.
“Verizon’s agreement with Herring Networks (Herring), the owner of One America News (OAN) and A Wealth of Entertainment (AWE), ends on July 30, 2022. We have been negotiating terms for a new agreement with Herring,” Verizon’s message said. “OAN and AWE will remain on Fios TV through July 30, and we will provide a notice on this website and the Fios TV Message Center of any changes that may be made after that date. Please check back for updates.”
Failing to work out a deal with Verizon would leave OANN in a difficult spot. DirecTV, which had previously been OANN’s largest cable carrier, parted ways with the bombastic broadcast outlet in April.
That move was meant with fury by OANN host Dan Ball, who urged viewers to help dig up dirt — “whatever it is” ― on the chairman of AT&T, which owns DirecTV.
OANN traded in bizarre right-wing messaging throughout the Trump Administration, thanks to a staff stacked with sensational conspiracy theorists. Former President Donald Trump frequently commended the network for its coverage of him.
The outlet ran into trouble in 2021 when voting technology companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic filed lawsuits against OANN asking for more than $3 billion. Fox News and Newsmax — which has since benefited from an exodus of OANN personalities — were hit with similar suits over their coverage of alleged irregularities in the 2020 election, which Trump lost by 7 million votes.
One current OANN host reportedly told the Daily Beast they were “trying to leave ASAP.”
If Verizon doesn’t cut a deal with OANN, the network would be largely relegated to streaming services. It’s unclear what’s at the crux of the bargaining between Verizon and OANN. The network has not responded to a request for comment.
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