Newsmax

Newsmax launched a cable TV channel on June 16, 2014, to 35 million satellite subscribers through DirecTV and Dish Network.^[36] As of May 2019, the network reaches about 75 million cable homes and has wide digital media player/mobile device availability.^[37] The channel primarily broadcasts from Newsmax's New York studio on Manhattan's East Side, with two headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida and Washington, D.C.^[38][39][40] Newsmax began broadcasting in the UK in October 2023, via Freeview Connect.^[41]


The website has been described by The New York Times as a "potent force in conservative politics."^[42] CEO Christopher Ruddy has attempted to position the network as a competitor to Fox News, including by hiring former Fox News hosts Rob Schmitt, Greg Kelly, Bob Sellers and Heather Childers.^[43][44] The Washington Post described Newsmax as "a landing spot for cable news personalities in need of a new home," citing the network's airing of Mark Halperin and Bill O'Reilly following their resignations from other networks due to sexual harassment allegations.^[45]


After the 2020 United States presidential election, Newsmax published numerous conspiracy theories made by President Donald Trump and the Trump campaign about voter fraud in the 2020 election, though the network never confirmed the veracity of the statements and accepted the election of Joe Biden as duly elected president.^[46][47][48] Newsmax later issued an apology and publicly retracted any voter fraud conspiracy allegations.^[49] When asked about Newsmax's support of former President Trump, Ruddy stated, "We have an editorial policy of being supportive of the president and his policies".^[50]


In 2021, Newsmax was sued by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for promoting false claims that the companies had engaged in election fraud during the 2020 presidential election.^[51][52] DirecTV dropped Newsmax from its lineup in January 2023, after the companies failed to agree on contract terms.^[53][54] In response, forty-two House Republicans signed a letter to DirecTV executives attacking the removal as an act of "suppressing politically disfavored speech."^[55] The two companies were able to resolve the dispute and DirecTV resumed broadcasting Newsmax on March 23, 2023.^[56][57]

Reception[edit]

In 2009, editor Michael Massing of the Columbia Journalism Review stated that "Far-right Web sites like World Net Daily and Newsmax.com floated all kinds of specious stories about Obama that quickly careened around the blogosphere and onto talk radio. One particular favorite was the claim that Bill Ayers ghost-wrote Dreams From My Father."^[134]


In March 2009, MarketWatch's media critic Jon Friedman stated that "Newsmax has flourished because Ruddy has exhibited a stronger commitment to the bottom line than to presenting himself as an ideologue."^[5]


In 2010, Nielsen Online said Newsmax was the most trafficked conservative website with approximately 4 million unique visitors monthly.^[3] Alexa Internet statistics for Newsmax.com indicate that the readership consists mainly of Internet users over the age of 45, which aligns itself to the average age of Republican leaning voters, as gathered by The Pew Research Center.^[135][136]


Former President Bill Clinton, who described Newsmax's CEO Ruddy as a friend, made headlines when he visited Newsmax's offices during the summer of 2010.^[66] When Sarah Palin stopped by the office for an interview, U.S. News & World Report suggested the move was the clearest indication yet she was planning to run for President.^[137] According to the magazine, Newsmax is a major player in GOP politics, as seen during the 2012 primaries.^[137] Visitors have also included Rep. Michele Bachmann, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Sen. John Thune, Gov. Haley Barbour, Sen. Mitt Romney, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and former Sen. Rick Santorum, among others.^[137]


An April 2010 cover story for Talkers Magazine featured Newsmax as a model of future media companies called "Media Stations" that offer their audience audio, video, digital, and even print content.^[3]


In March 2014, Newsmax was profiled in Bloomberg Businessweek by correspondent Karl Taro Greenfeld. The Bloomberg Businessweek story detailed Newsmax's successful business model of targeting higher-incomed Baby boomers. The average age of a Newsmax online reader is 54.7 years of age. The profile detailed Newsmax's plans to launch a linear and over-the-top (OTT) content cable channel, and suggested their revenue model which sells "a smorgasbord of political, health, and financial information, self-help books, and even vitamin supplements" could make the company uniquely competitive in this arena.^[138]


In 2017, The Washington Post described the relationship Ruddy, though not a registered Republican, had with President Donald Trump as a significant influence: "...with his dual role as a newsman and a close friend".^[139]


In 2019, the Columbia Journalism Review reported, "There are currently about 15 to 20 conservative websites which attract at least one million unique visitors per month. Some are venerable right-wing reliables like National Review, The Washington Times, or Newsmax. Others, like Infowars, The Gateway Pundit, Big League Politics, and Breitbart, mine the far fringes of the right."^[7]


The 2023 U.S. Trust in Media poll from YouGov and The Economist reports that Newsmax is the second-most trusted conservative news outlet for Republican voters, behind Fox News^[140] (a finding supported by Rasmussen Reports^[141]).