The DirecTV vs Newsmax battle has raged for more than a month, and it doesn’t appear there will be a resolution anytime soon.
The satellite provider removed Newsmax from its channel offerings after a dispute over a carriage fee ended contract negotiations. In response, Congressional Republicans have threatened hearings on the matter, claiming to believe DirecTV is guilty of censoring conservative voices.
“The silencing of conservative speech at the request of government officials is a direct assault on free speech and a threat to democracy,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote in a February letter to DirecTV, co-authored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
In its response, DirecTV contends it had no intentions of censoring or deplatforming conservative positions, and the disagreement is simply over business.
“This current business negotiation impasse has nothing to do with ‘censoring’ or ‘deplatforming’ Newsmax because of its political content,” DirecTV said. “It is about two companies operating in a free market who are unable to agree on economic terms. Our position in the ongoing negotiations is not motivated in whole or in part by any consideration relating to the presumed political orientation of Newsmax.”
The letter pushes back against insinuations by Newsmax and its CEO — Chris Ruddy — who have continually argued the move was over the network’s conservative political position and not over business.
In its statements, Newsmax has claimed that DirecTV is home to 22 “liberal news channels”. Included in that list are ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, The Weather Channel, CNN, Newsnation, CNBC, and Bloomberg TV, among others, but has “de-platformed” conservative outlets like OAN and Newsmax.
DirecTV also claims Newsmax is currently available in every US television home, either through cable/satellite or streaming services. However, if the channel were to secure a carriage fee, it would restrict its reach to nearly 40% of US households, which the satellite provider feels is proof the outlet is limiting itself.
“We find it disingenuous of Newsmax to claim that it is being deplatformed by DirecTV when its own plan is to cease making its channel available to many more households than DirecTV has customers. If anyone is intentionally attempting to reduce the reach and viewership of Newsmax, it is Newsmax itself. Newsmax is entitled to change its business model if it wishes to and is able to; what we object to is its effort to use politics and the power of government to coerce an outcome it cannot achieve through free market interaction.”
Newsmax believes it hasn’t misrepresented its position or any of the information disseminated to Congressional Republicans, but remains encouraged a potential deal can be struck to return to the channel to DirecTV.
“While we strongly disagree with DirecTV’s characterizations about Newsmax, we are pleased that they are open to bringing Newsmax back on, and we hope both parties can come to a mutually agreeable solution to have that happen,” a Newsmax spokesperson told CNN’s Oliver Darcy.
After removing Newsmax from its channel offerings, DirecTV replaced it with another conservative video outlet, The First, which features prominent conservative voices like Bill O’Reilly, Dana Loesch, and Jesse Kelly, among others.
