Claim DirecTV is dropping ‘The View’ originated as satire
Written by luck on March 24, 2023
The claim: DirecTV to drop ABC if network does not cancel ‘The View’
A March 17 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows photos of Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg, both hosts of ABC’s “The View.”
“DirecTV Will Drop ABC If They Don’t Cancel ‘The View’,” reads the caption on the post, which links to an article making the same claim.
The post was shared more than 250 times in a week.
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Our rating: False
A spokesperson for DirecTV said the claim was false. The claim originated on a satirical website.
Claim began on a satirical website
Thomas Tyrer, a DirecTV spokesperson, described the claim as a “false rumor” in an email to USA TODAY.
The claim originated on a website called “The Dunning-Kruger Times,” which calls itself “a subsidiary of the ‘America’s Last Line of Defense’ network of parody, satire and tomfoolery.”
“Everything on this website is fiction,” the website’s “About Us” page says. “It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined.”
There are no credible reports that DirecTV made any such announcement. Nothing resembling the claim appears on the satellite provider’s website or verified social media accounts.
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The post is an example of what could be called “stolen satire,” where stories written as satire and presented that way originally are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the later post are misled, as was the case here.
In January 2022, DirecTV announced it was dropping One America News Network, a right-wing channel often abbreviated as OAN. DirecTV also dropped another right-wing channel, Newsmax, in January, but the two parties have since reached an agreement to bring the channel back.
DirecTV described the decision to drop Newsmax as “strictly a business matter,” according to The Washington Post, though several dozen House Republicans still signed a letter accusing DirecTV of shutting down a conservative voice.
USA TODAY has previously debunked other false claims about “The View,” including that it settled a lawsuit with Kyle Rittenhouse for $22 million.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.
Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
- Thomas Tyrer, March 23, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- DirecTV, accessed March 23, Newsroom
- USA TODAY, Jan. 15, 2022, One America News Network dropped by DirecTV, a major financial blow for far-right network
- CNN, Jan. 26, DirecTV drops Newsmax
- The Washington Post, March 22, After political fury, Newsmax will return to DirecTV
- Lead Stories, March 21, Fact Check: DirecTV Did NOT Announce It ‘Will Drop ABC, If They Don’t Cancel “The View”‘
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