DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM Officially Drop OAN from Channel Lineup
After announcing the planned move in January, DIRECTV STREAM officially removed controversial conservative news outlet OAN at the end of day on Monday. The channel was also dropped from DIRECTV’s satellite lineup as well.
Last month, OAN filed a lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages from DIRECTV and its majority owner, AT&T. Lawyers for OAN said that the two media companies used “unchecked influence and power” to “unlawfully destroy an independent, family-run business and impede the right of American television viewers to watch the news media channels and programs of their choice.”
OAN also alleges that DirecTV is participating in what it calls a “larger, coordinated, extremely well-financed political scheme to take down (OAN CEO Robert) Herring and unlawfully destroy its ability to operate in the media business.”
The relationship between the news network and DIRECTV has been complicated since a Reuters investigation last fall found that OAN was originally the idea of AT&T executives who wanted a conservative network to rival Fox News.
At the time, AT&T was the sole owner of DIRECTV; in February, the conglomerate sold 30% of the satellite and streaming company to a private equity firm.
On John Oliver’s HBO show “Last Week Tonight,” the host criticized his then-parent company saying of the connection, “With that help, OAN has grown into the toxic network that it is today — one that’s happy to give a platform to batshit election-fraud theories from America’s most out-of-breath pillow fetishist [Mike Lindell].”
At the time of the airing, AT&T was the owner of WarnerMedia — which owns HBO; WarnerMedia has since merged with Discovery.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is a live TV streaming service, which is essentially the streaming version of the DIRECTV service. All packages include local channels and at least 31 of the top 35 cable channels. New subscribers can get a free Gemini streaming device from the company, in which case the service is called “DIRECTV via Internet.”