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Verizon puts One America News Network on life support

Tim Baysinger
Jul 22, 2022
Illustration of a television with static leaking out of it as if it were a liquid.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Verizon's decision to drop far-right cable news channel One America News Network is likely the network's death knell.

Why it matters: OAN was already on life support after DirecTV — the channel's largest source of revenue — dropped it in April. Losing Verizon will make the channel virtually impossible to find on linear TV.

  • Verizon had accounted for the majority of OAN's remaining $550,000 affiliate fee revenue it was getting each month, according to NextTV.
  • "OAN failed to agree to fair terms," a Verizon spokesperson said in a statement.
  • Verizon's contract with OAN expires July 30. Going forward, OAN will be available mostly on streaming services and Alaska-based General Communications Inc., which is in just 100,000 households per The Daily Beast, which first reported the news of Verizon's decision.

Yes, and: The channel still faces $3 billion in defamation lawsuits from Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic over its role in promoting baseless conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election.

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