Self-described MAGA “firebrand” Matt Gaetz, who dropped out final month as Donald Trump’s alternative for legal professional normal amid ongoing sexual misconduct allegations, has lastly secured one other full-time job now that he’s not in Congress.

After information leaked Monday evening that he had agreed to host a primetime present for the little-watched right-wing conspiracy channel One America Information, the community made it official on Tuesday with a press launch and promotional video.

Gaetz taking the plunge and turning into a conservative tv host is hardly a shock. In addition to showing a whole lot of occasions as a visitor on Fox Information and different right-wing retailers as a congressman, Gaetz additionally hosted his personal podcast and was repeatedly allowed to sit down within the anchor’s chair at OAN rival Newsmax.

Actually, his historical past of guest-hosting weeknight Newsmax programming prompted hypothesis that he would maybe look to work for that pro-Trump channel after his bid for legal professional normal flamed out — particularly since Newsmax was publicly courting him. Sources instructed The Unbiased final month that Newsmax executives have been eager on the concept of creating Gaetz a everlasting fixture on the community.

As a substitute, Gaetz took his skills to San Diego, the place One America Information is headquartered. However the query stays — will anybody really be watching his present when it debuts subsequent month? In contrast to Newsmax, which has skilled a post-election bump after Donald Trump’s victory and even beat CNN within the scores quite a few occasions, OAN has basically fallen off the map lately and grow to be almost not possible to seek out on cable tv.

After being propped up by AT&T for almost a decade, the far-right channel was dropped by DirecTV in early 2022, not solely severely limiting the community’s attain however depriving it of a big income supply. Months later, Verizon additionally eliminated the channel from its lineup — leaving OAN with none main pay-TV suppliers.

Since then, the community has tried to make a go of it on small cable carriers, streaming providers, and its personal subscriber app. With its broadcast protection in the US restricted to roughly 10 million properties — a pittance in comparison with Fox Information, CNN, MSNBC and even Newsmax — the community has seemed to increase viewership by getting on native channels that may be watched through antenna. (With out the over-the-air native antenna service, OAN’s U.S. protection could be restricted to a couple hundred thousand properties.)

It’s exhausting to get an correct gauge of OAN’s viewership because the community doesn’t subscribe to Nielsen Media Analysis’s metrics, which tracks broadcast and cable tv scores. The one time the channel did a trial on Nielsen in 2019, it solely averaged 14,000 viewers, regardless of OAN proprietor Robert Herring boasting that it was obtainable in 35 million properties.

Nonetheless, with tens of millions of People chopping the twine and turning to streaming whereas canceling their cable packages, is it attainable that OAN is bringing in an enormous viewers by means of different means, akin to their web site or on-line video websites like YouTube and Rumble? Maybe, however unlikely.

In response to SimilarWeb, One America Information’ net visitors is ranked #4,526 in the US and #267 amongst U.S. information and media publishers. Newsmax, which ranks #33 amongst U.S. information websites, averages 37.3 million guests in comparison with OAN’s 3.7 million.

On YouTube, the community boasts 1.36 million followers however most of the movies OAN has posted to the channel have barely registered. Clips that have been posted on Monday from primetime host Dan Ball’s present — which is touted because the community’s flagship program — had attracted lower than 2,000 views a bit. Even Gaetz’s promotional video for his upcoming present, which was added to YouTube on Tuesday morning, has barely cracked a thousand views as of publication.

Over on Rumble, a conservative-friendly different to YouTube, the community has fared barely higher. Current clips from Ball’s program have averaged upwards of 20,000 views, though OAN has a following on its Rumble channel of almost one million. Newsmax, however, enjoys extra followers on each platforms, and its movies pull in hundreds of extra views than OAN’s.

So, with Newsmax attracting a a lot bigger viewers and seemingly on safer footing than OAN, why would Gaetz select the channel that’s been struggling an “existential” disaster for two-plus years now?

Whereas Newsmax administration could have hoped that Gaetz would take into account leaping to the community, sources mentioned, the choice may have simply come right down to which proprietor Gaetz trusted extra. Again in 2021, Gaetz had instructed OAN that he was occupied with exiting politics for a tv internet hosting gig, finally holding comparable conversations with people at Newsmax and Fox Information.

Moreover, as OAN insiders famous, Robert Herring — who runs the community along with his son Charles — is reportedly value a number of hundred million {dollars} by means of his tech companies and has lengthy hoped to draw an enormous “star” to revamp the struggling channel.

As an illustration, Herring supposedly provided Invoice O’Reilly a considerable deal in June 2017 after Fox Information fired the longtime host following sexual harassment settlements, solely to later pull the provide after he mentioned O’Reilly and his agent didn’t get again to him. After Fox Information fired the primetime star final 12 months, Herring did the identical factor with Tucker Carlson.

No matter what triggered Gaetz to in the end determine on OAN, he seems excited to be anchoring the community’s night lineup going ahead.

“OAN is blazing a path in media, embracing not simply conventional information however the platforms the place People are going—streaming, apps, podcasts, and social media,” he mentioned in a press launch saying his present. “I couldn’t be extra thrilled to hitch OAN’s forward-thinking staff and be a part of this revolutionary growth.”

Representatives for One America Information didn’t reply to requests for remark.