by Live production of NRATV has ceased. The announcement was made yesterday and follows a demand from Ackerman McQueen to be paid for its services. The move was widely expected given the parting of the ways between the NRA and AckMac.
The N.R.A. on Tuesday also severed all business with its estranged advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, which operates NRATV, the N.R.A.’s live broadcasting media arm, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.
While NRATV may continue to air past content, its live broadcasting will end and its on-air personalities — Ackerman employees including Dana Loesch — will no longer be the public faces of the N.R.A. It remained unclear whether the N.R.A. might try to hire some of those employees, but there was no indication it was negotiating to do so.
It is somewhat ironic that one of the reasons stated for shutting down NRATV was the content that strayed from Second Amendment issues into other conservative social issues. Ironic because I think Wayne LaPierre used it to burnish his conservative credentials when appearing at events like CPAC. In a statement, he said regarding NRATV:
“Many members expressed concern about the messaging on NRATV becoming too far removed from our core mission: defending the Second Amendment,” Wayne LaPierre, the N.R.A.’s longtime chief executive, wrote in a message to members that was expected to be sent out by Wednesday. “So, after careful consideration, I am announcing that starting today, we are undergoing a significant change in our communications strategy. We are no longer airing ‘live TV’ programming.”
I think when NRATV was just Cam Edwards with Cam & Co. or special reports by Ginny Simone along with commentary from “the young guns” it was OK. Then it added programming from people like Dana Loesch and Grant Stichfield and it began to move more into other social issues. This loss of focus on the Second Amendment and threats to gun rights was when many members started having second thoughts about its usefulness.
Ackerman McQueen responded to the cessation of live production saying in part:
Ackerman, in its own statement, said it was “not surprised that the N.R.A. is unwilling to honor its agreement to end our contract and our long-standing relationship in an orderly and amicable manner.”
“When given the opportunity to do the right thing, the N.R.A. once again has taken action that we believe is intended to harm our company even at the expense of the N.R.A. itself,” the company added. It said it “will continue to fight against the N.R.A.’s repeated violations of its agreement with our company with every legal remedy available to us.”
The full letter from the NRA terminating its business relationship with Ackerman McQueen and the Mercury Group is below. The letter also demands all materials produced by AckMac for the NRA.