MAGA new channel Newsmax tore into Fox News in a lawsuit Wednesday, accusing the Rupert Murdoch-owned network of dominating the conservative news market through monopoly power.
The suit, filed in Florida federal court, alleged that Fox carried out “an exclusionary scheme to increase and maintain its dominance in the market for US right-leaning pay TV news.”
“Fox’s control over this must-have news channel gives it significant market power and leverage to impose onerous demands on distributors of its content,” said the suit, which names the network and its parent company, Fox News Corp.
Newsmax—whose Board of Directors features Alex Acosta, a former federal prosecutor who has been criticized for making a “sweetheart” Jeffrey Epstein plea deal—argues that Fox News maintains a stranglehold over the market by using its popularity to “coerce distributors into not carrying or into marginalizing other right-leaning news channels,” such as Newsmax and One America News Network (OANN) entirely. OANN is not a plaintiff.
Fox News also financially penalizes distributors if they carry Newsmax by requiring them to pick up and pay high fees for other Fox channels, such as Fox Business, according to the complaint.
Newsmax, which is owned by Christopher Ruddy, is seeking monetary damages. It also said it wants the court to prevent Fox from continuing “exclusionary contracts and monopolistic practices.”
“Fox has deliberately blocked Newsmax’s growth in critical distribution platforms such as Hulu, Sling, Fubo, and other major platforms,” Newsmax said in a statement Wednesday.
Fox News accused the network of using the lawsuit for publicity.
“Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can’t attract viewers,” a Fox spokeswoman said in a statement to Daily Beast.
Fox Corp.’s market capitalization is over $25 billion, while Newsmax’s is just above $1.2 billion, according to Yahoo Finance.
“As of 2023, Fox News generates nearly 70% of its parent company’s pre-tax profit,” per the suit.
Newsmax settled a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems last month after it pushed the false claim that the company rigged voting machines at the 2020 election in favor of former President Joe Biden.
Filings showed that Newsmax agreed to pay $67 million over two years to avoid going to trial.
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