Newsmax clashed with the Republican National Committee over co-sponsoring a GOP presidential primary debate.
Axios reported that the RNC offered Newsmax as the junior partner to ABC News for the third debate after Fox News and Fox Business hosted the first two.
Nonetheless, executives hesitated to be a junior partner with a mainstream media outlet and thought the $2 million the RNC required the network to spend on the event was extreme. Eventually, that debate resulted in NBC News and Salem Media Group working together on the third debate.
Moreover, Newsmax was approached again to host the Republican debate. The RNC came to Newsmax to be the primary sponsor for the fourth GOP debate, which will take place in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Wednesday that ultimately went to NewsNation.
Still, the economics might have been an issue, as Newsmax would have had to spend approximately $4 million to produce the debate if they hosted it.
When the RNC announced that NewsNation would sponsor the fourth debate, it left the executives at Newsmax fuming as they were still searching for an additional sponsor to split the costs.
Axios obtained an email showing that executives from the conservative cable outlet were aware that the costs would vary based on the nature of the sponsors’ partnership, despite their belief that the RNC had changed the terms of their agreement.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
