Following the 2020 election, MAGA cable channel One America News was facing an existential crisis as it was dropped by the vast majority of its cable and satellite providers in the wake of the network’s full-throated embrace of Donald Trump’s baseless voter fraud conspiracy theories.
Now that Trump is back in the White House and OAN has settled several defamation lawsuits over its false election fraud claims, the fortunes of the far-right outlet appear to be on the rise.
Herring Networks, the parent company of OAN, announced Wednesday that it had reached a multi-year deal with YouTube TV to carry both One America News and its lifestyle channel A Wealth of Entertainment on the streamer’s base package lineup.
The deal would expand OAN’s reach to the Google-owned service’s 9.4 million subscribers. In fact, earlier this year, YouTube TV surpassed Disney to become the leader of Nielsen’s “Distributor Gauge” by commanding an 11.6 percent share of all TV usage in the country.
“With the addition of OAN and AWE, YouTube TV viewers will enjoy 16 hours of live, breaking news coverage each weekday on OAN, as well as AWE’s signature mix of travel, adventure, lifestyle, and family entertainment programming,” Herring Networks, led by president Charles Herring and founder Robert Herring, stated in its Wednesday press release.
The launch of OAN and AWE on YouTube TV is scheduled to take place in the fourth quarter of 2025.
“We’re excited to bring OAN and AWE to YouTube TV’s ever-growing community of subscribers. This partnership makes it easier than ever for viewers nationwide to connect with our networks — from in-depth news reporting to inspiring entertainment,” OAN and AWE President of Distribution Richard Levine said in a statement. “We’re delighted to be part of the YouTube TV channel lineup.”
Saying that the company’s “goal has always been to provide our subscribers with a wide range of content,” YouTube Global Head of Media Justin Connolly added that “we’re excited to bring One America News to YouTube TV.” Connolly also said that the partnership gives OAN “access to our growing audience, while also giving our subscribers even more choice when it comes to news and entertainment.”
The OAN announcement comes as the streamer has reached an impasse with Fox over a new deal to carry the Rupert Murdoch-owned media giant’s channels, which could result in all Fox content – including Fox News, Fox Sports and Fox Business – being pulled from YouTube TV by Wednesday afternoon.
“Fox is asking for payments that are far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive,” Google told subscribers in a note this week. “Our priority is to reach a deal that reflects the value of their content and is fair for both sides without passing on additional costs to subscribers.”
Fox has countered by insisting that it is “proposing a fair, comprehensive deal to continue our relationship with YouTube TV,” and Google is “attempting to use its market power to pressure Fox to agree to unfavorable and one-sided terms.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s handpicked Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr has inserted himself into the carriage fight, urging Google to “get a deal done” despite his agency having no authority of intervene in the dispute. “We’re working hard to negotiate a deal that’s fair to Fox, our valued subscribers and all of our partners. Stay tuned,” YouTube responded to Carr’s social media post on the matter.
Prior to this new agreement with YouTube, OAN had been suspended by the video platform in 2020 for repeated violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy, resulting in the pro-Trump network’s content also being demonetized. Last December, though, YouTube informed the network that it had been readmitted to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and its videos could once again be monetized with ad revenue.
“I’m thrilled by the decision by YouTube to readmit OAN into the YouTube Partner Program. YouTube remains the dominant video platform in the marketplace and having the ability to monetize our content is meaningful to the network,” Charles Herring reacted at the time.
In early 2022, with OAN facing billion-dollar defamation lawsuits from voting software firms Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, the network lost its largest distributor when satellite provider DirecTV announced it was dropping the channel from its lineup. At the time, DirecTV was the primary source of revenue for the network.
Despite its owner begging OAN viewers to call other cable providers to urge them to pick up the network, One America News lost its last major pay-TV platform in mid-2022 when Verizon announced that it would be pulling the network after being unable to reach a new agreement.
However, in recent months, it appears that OAN has received a new lease on life under the Trump administration.
With the White House looking to dismantle state-funded broadcaster Voice of America, Trump senior adviser Kari Lake announced this spring that she had reached a deal with OAN to provide a news feed for VOA’s airwaves.
The network also brought on former GOP Congressman and self-described MAGA “firebrand” Matt Gaetz as a primetime host in January following Gaetz’s failed bid to become Trump’s attorney general. The high-profile hire has helped the channel attract increased visibility with the administration as well as greater attention from mainstream media outlets.
Additionally, OAN has been able to resolve the majority of its debilitating defamation cases surrounding the network’s post-2020 election denialism, settling lawsuits with Smartmatic, a former executive from Dominion, and several Georgia election workers.
Dominion’s case against One America News is still ongoing. However, with the company recently settling with Newsmax – another second-tier pro-Trump network – for $67 million, it seems increasingly likely that a settlement will be reached with the Herring-led channel.
