Indeed, all of the public outcry came following the Reuters article (which was reported on in a number of major publications) with many liberal groups (including the NAACP) calling on DirecTV to drop OAN. AT&T settled, and signed an agreement to carry the channels for five years starting in 2017.ĪT&T may end up settling the suit (as it did in 2016 when Herring sued AT&T for violating a verbal contract to carry OAN) just so no more of its dirty laundry is shown in public ( click here for an in-depth expose by Reuters on AT&T’s relationship with OAN and former president Donald Trump). In exchange, AT&T promised to carry OAN and another network owned by Herring Networks (A Wealth of Entertainment, or AWE) on the video platforms U-Verse and AT&T.Īfter the FCC approved the acquisition in 2015, Herring claims AT&T and DirecTV reneged on their promise to carry OAN and AWE, forcing Herring to file suit. When regulators pushed back against AT&T’s plan to acquire DirecTV in 2014, Herring claims that AT&T enlisted OAN’s help to lobby the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve the purchase.Īs a small, independent network, Robert Herring met with FCC officials, hired lobbyists and signed filings in favor of the acquisition which were ghost written by AT&T, according to the lawsuit. In 2014, OAN entered into a carriage agreement with AT&T. In 2013, it charged cable and satellite operators more than $5/month/subscriber, almost 4x the second most expensive channel at the time (TNT at almost $1.50/month/subscriber) and 9x more expensive than CNN (which charged $0.63/month/subscriber). That’s not surprising as Fox News Channel is the most expensive basic cable network on the air. In the lawsuit, Herring claims that in 2013 AT&T approached Herring about launching an alternative conservative –leaning network as a competitor to Fox News Network.
The data shows that OAN was ranked 24 th (excluding broadcast networks) out of over 300 channels, placing OAN in the top 10%. In the lawsuit, which claims breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with business expectancy and violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, Herring claims OAN ranks ahead of CNBC, CNN Headline NewsFox Business and Newsmax in the ratings (according to data from AT&T as of the third quarter of 2021).
#Directv one america news network full#
It also states that Kennard was appointed Chairman of AT&T’s Board three days after Joe Biden won the presidential election, and around the same time, Staple Street’s Web site underwent a full transformation and “all information about Staple Street’s investment in Dominion and Kennard’s role as a member of Staple Street’s Executive Board of Directors vanished.” The lawsuit attacks Kennard directly, stating, “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.”
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