Fox News and Newsmax, believe it or not, were launched within a few years of each other. Both networks launched roughly three decades ago, with Fox launching in 1996 and Newsmax following in 1998.
Newsmax is now suing Fox News, saying the network has created a monopoly in the conservative news sector.
Fox News is and has been a ratings giant in cable news for quite some time.
This is more about the personalities on Fox News than it is about news, however, as the prime-time TV slots are regularly among the top-rated shows in cable news.
For example, during the second quarter, Fox News drew in more viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined in several key areas.
Not only that, but Fox News is now catching up to the legacy media, surpassing CBS News and right on the tail of NBC and ABC viewers, which is just an astonishing accomplishment.
The key to Fox News’ success has always been that it does not cater to only conservatives, even though Democrats will tell you that is not the case.
The most popular show on the network, “The Five,” has always had a liberal co-host on the show, and the network regularly invites members of both parties to appear.
When Newsmax launched, it tried to ride Fox News’ tail by being conservative in steroids, running virtually 100% anti-Clinton content (this is what crushed CNN when it went 100% anti-Trump).
That may work for a bit, but it's not a longevity project. To be honest, until I started writing about politics, I had never even heard of Newsmax, so the company was around for nearly two decades before I knew it existed (I have been covering politics since 2016).
Now Newsmax is suing Fox, saying the network is creating a monopoly by abusing “its dominance in the right-leaning pay TV news market for years by coercing distributors into unfair carriage agreements designed to exclude or marginalize competitors like Newsmax.”
The complaint contends that Fox insists that its carriers do not allow the airing of other right-leaning networks, as well as penalizing carriers if they do not carry the lesser-watched networks under its umbrella, such as Fox Business.
The complaint continues, “But for Fox’s anticompetitive behavior, Newsmax would have achieved greater pay TV distribution, seen its audience and ratings grow sooner, gained earlier ‘critical mass’ for major advertisers and become, overall, a more valuable media property.”
I am far from a fan of any cable news network, so I have no skin in this game, but it sounds like a lot of whining by Newsmax to me. Fox found a niche, dominated it, and now it is enjoying the fruits of its labor. But, these days, you just never know how the courts will rule, especially if they get a liberal judge who does not like Fox News.
