DIVIDE AND CONQUER

Trump Allies Eye Buyout of One America News Network: WSJ

The move would disrupt the conservative media landscape that is currently dominated by Fox News.

President Trump’s allies are seeking to buy out the president’s new favorite cable-news channel, One America News Network, in a move that would shake up the conservative media landscape currently dominated by Fox News, The Wall Street Journal reports. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Journal reports that investment firm Hicks Equity Partners, which is owned by the family of the co-chairman of the Republican National Committee, Thomas Hicks Jr., is trying to persuade Republican donors to pitch in on a $250 million bid for an OANN buyout. Hicks Jr., who is also a friend of Donald Trump Jr., is said not to be involved in efforts to buy the network and has resigned at Hicks Holdings to avoid any conflicts of interest, but he could still opt in to a buyout deal, according to the Journal.

“Over the last 25 years, we have been active media investors. Any interest in OANN is from a purely business standpoint,” Rick Newman, a partner at Hicks Equity Partners, told the Journal. The network comes nowhere close to drawing the same viewership as other big names in cable news, but Trump has repeatedly singled out OANN for praise in recent months while at the same time disparaging Fox News over perceived criticism.