DIRECTV dropping OANN?

@SOH 

You observations are spot on.  13 years ago we got Verizon fios and it was extremely hard to decouple the broadband internet connection from their cable package when we decided to use AT&T stream circa 2013.   Just recently I called back to get an estimate after canceling DIRECTV to return to their cable services as they carry OAN and offered a streaming package.   However, once I dug into the details they flat out told me that they are now primarily in the buisness to provide internet and recommended other providers for streaming TV like Sling and YouTube TV (which unfortunately do not carry OAN).

Based on my research, soon we will not even need Streaming TV providers.  Just about every major network either has or is in the process of offering their own channel apps that can be loaded on smart TVs, Rokos, FireSticks, or Apple TV’s.  Instead of having one integrated channel menu, we will be navigating through Apps. 

Good luck to you too, SOH

@ElmerFudd79 -

If we finally reach a point where we can consume the individual content providers (channels, apps, etc) directly without the in-between operator that would be FANTASTIC, much preferable.

Back when I had FIOS I grew increasingly irritated at the ever-increasing monthly price for hundreds of channels, most of which I never watched and often found annoying. Many were nothing more than infomercials. 

Over the last several years I've traveled quite a bit and I ask people everywhere I go what channels they actually watch on cable or streaming or whatever. The top answers always seem to be, in order:

• HGTV
• Hallmark channels
• Weather and local news
• Stuff like ID, Court, Travel, TLC
• Movies on Sundance, Turner Classic, maybe AMC
• Re-runs on whatever station they can find them - maybe GetTV or something like that.
• Rentals of new movies or binge-watching of new series on NetFlix

Most people I chat with never watch the rest.

@SOH 

Your posts come off as a lot of sarcasm. I am NOT a spokesperson for DirecTV. As you keep mentioning such lies that is why I do not have a lot of trust in what you say. So, your "thanks" do not seem genuine.

And you claim I am responsible for your decision, when it is yours and yours alone. You would just jump off a bridge or beat your spouse because of anything I said, would you? Take responsibility for your own choices.

Also, chat agents have to this point never been able to cancel DirecTV. That has always required you calling and speaking to the actual cancellation department. From posts in the forum from some with the "employee" tag at the very least, those chat transcripts are not notated on your account so once that chat is over, they are gone. Regardless of my opinion of your conduct in the forum, I at least want you have that information, so you don't end up with a surprise bill later for continued service when you thought it was canceled.

@SOH 

Strange about the secondary profile. I wonder if that was an issue that happened when they separated the AT&T/DirecTV forums.

On this point alone, I thank you for bringing this to my attention.

@Juniper

SOH was not being sarcastic at all… I took it as a legit Thank you.

Also, we will have to agree to disagree (as you will deny what I’m about to say) but all your posts substantiate your team DIRECTV.   

@ElmerFudd79 

Stating DirecTV has the right to not do business with a channel does not make me "Team DirecTV".

I have never once made an opinion for or against the channel itself. At this time, I have not made a decision if I believe if their choice was good or not. And regardless of what way I end up deciding, or seeing how it comes about afterwards, does not dictate if am or not a Patriot.

I find it hard to believe @SOH 's "thanks" are genuine. With claiming I pushed them out the door and other such comments, makes it sound more like they want me to take blame for what is ultimately their choice. If their post is completely honest, and not filled with sarcasm or the like (which is what it sounds like to me), then I apologize for my misunderstanding. However, I stand by that there are no "thanks" for that decision I can accept.

ElmerFudd79

My hat's off to you, sir.

I hope you get a response from Newsmax and OANN as well. Thanks for taking the ball and running with it.

Lol, the are deleting many of my posts again.  Two can play this game.  

I posted the letter in whole. Should I repost it?

Rep Eshoo/McNerney 

Letter to AT&T/DirecTV

February 22, 2021
Mr. John T. Stankey, CEO
AT&T, Inc.
208 South Akard Street
Dallas, Texas 75202
Dear Mr. Stankey,
Our country’s public discourse is plagued by misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, 
and lies. These phenomena undergird the radicalization of seditious individuals who committed 
acts of insurrection on January 6th, and it contributes to a growing distrust of public health 
measures necessary to crush the pandemic. We are concerned about the role AT&T plays in 
disseminating misinformation to millions of its U-verse, DirecTV, and AT&T TV subscribers, 
and we write to you today to request additional information about what actions AT&T is taking to 
address these issues.
Nearly half of Americans get their news primarily from TV.1 However, not all TV news sources 
are the same. Some purported news outlets have long been misinformation rumor mills and 
conspiracy theory hotbeds that produce content that leads to real harm.
2 Misinformation on TV 
has led to our current polluted information environment that radicalizes individuals to commit 
seditious acts and rejects public health best practices, among other issues in our public discourse.3
 
Experts have noted that the right-wing media ecosystem is “much more susceptible…to 
disinformation, lies, and half-truths.”4 Right-wing media outlets, like Newsmax, One America 
News Network (OANN), and Fox News all aired misinformation about the November 2020 
elections.5 For example, both Newsmax and OANN “ran incendiary reports” of false information 
following the elections and continue to support “an angry and dangerous subculture [that] will 
continue to operate semi-openly.”6 As a violent mob was breaching the doors of the Capitol, 
Newsmax’s coverage called the scene a “sort of a romantic idea.”7 Fox News, meanwhile, has 
spent years spewing misinformation about American politics.8
These same networks also have been key vectors of spreading misinformation related to the 
pandemic. A media watchdog found over 250 cases of COVID-19 misinformation on Fox News 
in just one five-day period,
9
and economists demonstrated that Fox News had a demonstrable 
impact on non-compliance with public health guidelines.10 One online platform suspended and 
demonetized OANN’s channel online because it was spreading COVID-19 misinformation.11
Newsmax has amplified allegations that members of the Chinese Communist Party helped to 
develop the COVID-19 vaccine.12
Sadly, these facts are not new. One popular television show aired a segment about OANN last 
April that included a dire warning: “the kind of misinformation [OANN] is spewing right now 
could end up getting people killed.”13
Yet, to our knowledge, the cable, satellite, and over-the-top companies that disseminate these 
media outlets to American viewers have done nothing in response to the misinformation aired by 
these outlets.
14 AT&T currently carries Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN on U-verse, DirecTV, 
and AT&T TV.
15 As a company that serves 17 million Americans,16 AT&T plays a major role inspread of dangerous misinformation that enabled the insurrection of January 6th and hinders 
our public health response to the current pandemic. 
It is for these reasons we ask that you provide us with responses to the following questions about 
AT&T’s policies toward content carried on U-verse, DirecTV, and AT&T TV by March 8, 2021:
1. What moral or ethical principles (including those related to journalistic integrity, 
violence, medical information, and public health) do you apply in deciding which 
channels to carry or when to take adverse actions against a channel? 
2. Do you require, through contracts or otherwise, that the channels you carry abide by any 
content guidelines? If so, please provide a copy of the guidelines.
3. How many of your subscribers tuned in to Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN on U-verse, 
DirecTV, and AT&T TV for each of the four weeks preceding the November 3, 2020 
elections and the January 6, 2021 attacks on the Capitol? Please specify the number of 
subscribers that tuned in to each channel.
4. What steps did you take prior to, on, and following the November 3, 2020 elections and 
the January 6, 2021 attacks to monitor, respond to, and reduce the spread of 
disinformation, including encouragement or incitement of violence by channels your 
company disseminates to millions of Americans? Please describe each step that you took 
and when it was taken.
5. Have you taken any adverse actions against a channel, including Fox News, Newsmax, 
and OANN, for using your platform to disseminate disinformation related directly or 
indirectly to the November 3, 2020 elections, the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, or 
COVID-19 misinformation? If yes, please describe each action, when it was taken, and 
the parties involved. 
6. Have you ever taken any actions against a channel for using your platform to disseminate 
any disinformation? If yes, please describe each action and when it was taken.
7. Are you planning to continue carrying Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN on U-verse, 
DirecTV, and AT&T TV both now and beyond any contract renewal date? If so, why?
Most gratefully,
______________________
Anna G. Eshoo
Member of Congress
______________________
Jerry McNerney
Member of Congress
1 Amy Mitchell et al., “Americans Who Mainly Get Their News on Social Media Are Less Engaged, Less 
Knowledgeable” (Pew Research Center, July 30, 2020), https://www.journalism.org/2020/07/30/americans-
who-mainly-get-their-news-on-social-media-are-less-engaged-less-knowledgeable/.
2 Bill Keveney and Maria Puente, “How (Edited per community guidelines) Media Stoked Baseless Election-Fraud Claims That Motivated DC Rioters,” USA Today, January 11, 2021,https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/01/11/dc-riots-how-newsmax-oan-(Edited per community guidelines)-
outlets-fueled-mob/6589298002/; Jason Mittell, “America’s Fake News Problem Predates Facebook,” Vox, 
November 21, 2016, https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/11/21/13682574/fake-news-facebook-fox-news-
(Edited per community guidelines)-radio.
3 Karen Attiah, “The Media Had a Role to Play in the Rise of Trump. It’s Time to Hold Ourselves 
Accountable.,” Washington Post, January 20, 2021, 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/20/media-had-role-play-rise-trump-its-time-hold-
ourselves-accountable/; Christopher Ingraham, “New Research Explores How (Edited per community guidelines) Media 
Misinformation May Have Intensified the Severity of the Pandemic,” Washington Post, June 25, 2020, 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/25/fox-news-hannity-coronavirus-misinformation/.
4 Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts, Network (Edited per community guidelines): Manipulation, Disinformation, and 
Radicalization in American Politics (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018), 13.
5 Renee DiResta and Alex Stamos, “The Insurrection Hiding in Plain Sight,” January 14, 2021, 
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-01-14/insurrection-hiding-plain-sight; Peter 
Kafka, “Fox News Wants Its Viewers Angry Enough to Watch but Not Angry Enough to Riot,” Vox 
Recode, January 7, 2021, https://www.vox.com/recode/22219026/fox-news-riot-capitol-maga-carlson-
hannity.
6 DiResta and Stamos, “The Insurrection Hiding in Plain Sight.”
7
Justin Peters, “How Newsmax Covered the Insurrection It Provoked,” Slate, January 7, 2021, 
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/newsmax-capitol-siege-trump.html.
8 Peter Kafka, “Fox News Wants Its Viewers Angry Enough to Watch but Not Angry Enough to Riot.”
9 Rob Savillo, “Fox News Pushed Coronavirus Misinformation 253 Times in Just Five Days” (Media 
Matters for America, July 16, 2020), https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fox-news-
pushed-coronavirus-misinformation-253-times-just-five-days.
10 Andrey Simonov et al., “The Persuasive Effect of Fox News: Non-Compliance with Social Distancing 
During the Covid-19 Pandemic” (National Bureau of Economic Research, May 25, 2020), 
https://doi.org/10.3386/w27237.
11 Ashley Gold, “YouTube Temporarily Suspends, Demonetizes OANN,” Axios, November 24, 2020, 
https://www.axios.com/youtube-temporarily-suspends-demonetizes-oann-420e8ea9-66c1-4eab-9754-
6e3b708483c9.html.
12 Elizabeth Dwoskin and Josh Dawsey, “The Trump Administration Wants to Take Credit for a Covid
Vaccine. Trump Supporters Are Undermining It.,” Washington Post, December 24, 2020, 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/24/trump-vaccine-misinformation/.
13 “OAN,” Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO, April 5, 2020), https://www.hbo.com/last-week-
tonight-with-john-oliver/2020/127-episode-186.
14 Oliver Darcy, “Analysis: TV Providers Should Not Escape Scrutiny for Distributing Disinformation,” 
CNN, January 8, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/media/tv-providers-disinfo-reliable-
sources/index.html.
15
“U-verse Channel Lineup,” (AT&T, March 2020), 
https://www.att.com/idpassets/pdfs/channel_lineups/Uverse_Channel_Lineup.pdf; “DirectvPackages & 
Channel Lineup,” (AT&T, accessed February 21, 2021), 
https://www.att.com/idpassets/pdfs/channel_lineups/Uverse_Channel_Lineup.pdf; “AT&T TV Channel 
Lineup,” (AT&T, accessed February 21, 2021) https://www.att.com/channels/att-tv/?edsp=true.
16
“Financial and Operational Trends (4Q 2020),” (AT&T, accessed February 21, 2021), 8, 
https://investors.att.com/~/media/Files/A/ATT-IR/financial-reports/quarterly-earnings/2020/q4-
2020/4Q20_Trending_Schedule.pdf.

The letter of February 22, 2021 to the CEO of AT&T DirecTV by two members of Congress was also sent to the rest of the largest TV carriers in the country. 

I have the complete letter posted in this forum as does another member of the community. 

ElmerFudd79 posted the link to the letter several times but each time is taken down. The link should be left up for members to examine as that letter is directly responsible for the cancellation of One America News Network.

Mark my words folks, Newsmax is next followed by Fox.

The left-wing media, then, will have no one to hold them accountable for the very misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories and lies that they are accusing these of.

@Canceled Thanks for the update. We are headed down the road of leaving DirectTV, and I will tell all my freedom-loving-truth-seeking friends to do the same. It’s amazing that through one action, DirectTV gave so many satisfied customers reasons to explore other options, and many of us have found we can get so much more for less money. DirectTV has shown it does not value its customers. I’ll never understand why anyone wants the free exchange of ideas suppressed. 

@Canceled While I don't know what your friend posted, I do know that when we all sign up for various forums, we agree to terms and conditions.

When those terms and conditions are broken, punishment can occur.

And no, that's not "censorship."