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OAN files lawsuit against DirecTV, AT&T over cancellation

March 12, 2022 | | Print Article

DirecTV is canceling conservative news channel One America News (OAN), but the family-run business isn’t going down without a fight.

In a 36-page lawsuit filed in the San Diego Superior Court of California, OAN’s owner, Herring Networks, accuses DirecTV, its parent company, AT&T, and company board chair William Kennard of bowing “to political pressure” and trying to “unlawfully destroy” an independent business.

“This is an action to redress the unchecked influence and power that Defendants have wielded in an attempt 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,” said Herring Networks in the filing.

While Herring states it has for years had a “mutually beneficial” relationship with DirecTV and AT&T, it claims DirecTV has “bowed to political pressure and have put their unlawful interests and the unlawful personal, political, and financial interests of their management ahead of contractual and legal obligations.”

“These wrongdoings are part and parcel of a larger, coordinated, extremely well-financed political scheme to take down Herring and unlawfully destroy its ability to operate in the media business,” Herring alleged.

It’s an accusation that has some bite to it when you consider that AT&T also owns WarnerMedia, which owns the flailing CNN. The telecom giant announced in May it will be merging WarnerMedia with Discovery in a $43 billion deal, and CNN is set to launch its streaming service, CNN+, later this month.

Herring goes on to claim that liberal organizations such as the NAACP, Media Matters of America, women’s advocacy group Ultraviolet, and Greenpeace, have “pressured AT&T to drop OAN.”

According to the filing, Herring alleges the company will lose more than $1 billion if DirecTV drops them and is seeking compensatory damages, attorney fees and “just and proper” relief.

The announcement to drop OAN came from DirecTV in mid-January.

In response to the Herring lawsuit, DirecTV said in a Friday statement simply that, “We informed Herring Networks that, following a routine internal review, we do not plan to enter into a new contract when our current agreement expires,” according to Mediaite.

Herring Networks is suing for breach of contract; breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing; intentional interference with business expectancy; and violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code.

Reaction to the lawsuit has liberals dancing across the Twitter-verse, as they continue to celebrate the censorship of those they don’t agree with.

The Daily Beast described OAN as a “conspiracy-minded channel” in its reporting of the filing, and the woke Left jumped on board.

“No one owes a Nazi propaganda machine the right to use THEIR NETWORK to spread their crap. Build your own!” tweeted one user.

“Fox News only allows conservative posts, so why can’t DirecTV only allow liberal posts,” another tweeted, adding “It’s only fair.”

And Daniel Terdiman tweeted, “As always, they’re all about freedom until someone’s (or some company’s) freedom hurts them.”

https://twitter.com/garymheard/status/1502664961415385093?s=20&t=TtK5rH9HVCUPv9AK9MlRRg

Melissa Fine
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