Newsmax Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Fox News Alleging Exclusionary Scheme to Suppress Competition
In a federal court in Miami, right-wing television news outlet Newsmax filed a lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company on Wednesday, accusing them of unlawfully stifling competition within the U.S. market for conservative pay TV news. The lawsuit alleges that Fox Corporation has been involved in an anticompetitive scheme to preserve its dominance in the sector, resulting in suppressed competition that adversely affects consumers and Newsmax Broadcasting.
Shortly after the lawsuit was announced, Fox News rejected the claims, stating that Newsmax’s competitive struggles in the marketplace drive their legal actions aimed at generating headlines. Fox Corp. declined to comment on the matter.
The lawsuit seems to be a consequence of the fallout from former President Trump’s election loss in 2020. On election night, Fox News became the first network to call Arizona for Joe Biden, sparking outrage among its pro-Trump audience. Subsequently, Fox lost millions of viewers, with executives frequently citing Newsmax as a threat.
Much of Fox’s internal concerns regarding Newsmax were publicly revealed in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation suit against Fox. Fox settled the lawsuit for $787.5 million in 2023 after its hosts promoted and amplified lies suggesting that Dominion had helped to rig the election in favor of Joe Biden. No such evidence ever emerged. Fox is currently embroiled in another defamation suit by Smartmatic, an election technology company, over similar allegations.
Newsmax, which has settled its own defamation suits filed by Dominion and Smartmatic, appears to have obtained private communications among Fox executives that were disclosed in court. Newsmax argues that Fox’s focus was primarily on competition from smaller, right-leaning outlets rather than conventional news peers in cable TV like CNN.
For instance, after the election, Rupert Murdoch, Fox Corp.’s controlling owner and founder of Fox News, told the network’s CEO Suzanne Scott that Newsmax “should be watched.” A senior vice president of programming and analytics also noted an increase in Fox viewers switching to Newsmax and started tracking guests booked and topics covered on Newsmax.
The lawsuit highlights that a Fox executive declared concern over losing market share not only to CNN or MSNBC but specifically to Newsmax and One America News Network. Another executive suggested that if Newsmax were to attract even 5-10% of Fox’s audience, it could significantly alter the industry landscape.
Fox News remains the most-watched cable channel in the U.S., often surpassing broadcast networks during primetime hours. Fox News is a highly sought-after news channel for cable providers and digital services looking to attract viewers and paying subscribers.
The lawsuit alleges that Fox’s market power enables it to impose onerous demands on distributors of its content, coercing them into not carrying or marginalizing other right-leaning news channels, including Newsmax.
Newsmax is suing under federal and state law in Florida, citing at least three anticompetitive practices by Fox Corporation: imposing explicit or tacit “no carry” provisions for competing right-wing outlets when negotiating cable provider deals to offer Fox News; requiring those that carry Newsmax or other competitors to also carry Fox Business and sister outlets; and inserting contractual barriers intended to prevent Newsmax and others from competing effectively. In the filing, Newsmax characterizes Fox Business as a little-watched network, typically beating competitor CNBC in ratings.