![]() ![]() OAN’s influence rose in late 2015, when it began covering Trump rallies live, at a time when some of the media still saw the New York celebrity businessman as a longshot presidential contender. The network continues to shower Trump with attention and often provides a friendly platform for his Republican allies.Īs president, Trump frequently urged supporters to watch OAN. Herring, who just turned 80, is a self-made businessman who amassed a fortune in the circuit board industry, then turned to television and boxing promotion. The Herrings declined interview requests. Their AT&T deal includes Herring’s other network, a little-watched lifestyle channel, AWE. Herring and his adult sons own and operate OAN, a subsidiary of their closely held San Diego-based Herring Networks. Greer said that figure is inaccurate, but declined to say how much AT&T has paid to air OAN, citing a non-disclosure agreement. According to an AT&T filing citing Herring’s numbers, those fees would total about $57 million. “Any suggestion otherwise is wrong.”Īfter this story was published, AT&T issued a statement saying it has “never had a financial interest in OAN's success and does not 'fund' OAN.”Īlthough the contracts are confidential, in court filings Herring cited monthly fees included in one five-year deal with AT&T. “We have always sought to provide a wide variety of content and programming that would be of interest to customers, and do not dictate or control programming on channels we carry,” Greer said. He said that DirecTV broadcasts “many news channels that offer viewpoints across the political spectrum.” television subscriber base, including satellite and streaming services, fell from 26 million in 2015 to 15.4 million as of August.ĪT&T spokesman Jim Greer declined to comment on the testimony about OAN’s revenue streams, citing confidentiality agreements. ![]() AT&T acquired DirecTV in 2015 and in August spun off the satellite service, retaining a 70% share in the new, independently managed company. … When they said that, I jumped to it and built one.” OAN founder Robert Herring Sr in a 2019 depositionĭallas-based AT&T, a mobile-phone and Internet provider, also owns entertainment giant Warner Media, which includes CNN and HBO. “They told us they wanted a conservative network. Without the DirecTV deal, the accountant said under oath, the network’s value “would be zero.” Herring has testified he was offered $250 million for OAN in 2019. Since then, AT&T has been a crucial source of funds flowing into OAN, providing tens of millions of dollars in revenue, court records show. Ninety percent of OAN’s revenue came from a contract with AT&T-owned television platforms, including satellite broadcaster DirecTV, according to 2020 sworn testimony by an OAN accountant. When they said that, I jumped to it and built one.” “They only had one, which was Fox News, and they had seven others on the other side. “They told us they wanted a conservative network,” Herring said during a 2019 deposition seen by Reuters. OAN founder and chief executive Robert Herring Sr has testified that the inspiration to launch OAN in 2013 came from AT&T executives. ![]() One America News, the far-right network whose fortunes and viewership rose amid the triumph and tumult of the Trump administration, has flourished with support from a surprising source: AT&T Inc, the world's largest communications company.Ī Reuters review of court records shows the role AT&T played in creating and funding OAN, a network that continues to spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic. ![]()
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