Newsmax reportedly filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing Fox News of monopolistic practices, claiming the nation’s leading right-leaning cable channel has deliberately stifled its smaller competitors.
“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,” the complaint alleges.
The lawsuit points to three tactics it says Fox deploys to suppress rivals. “Fox employs at least three anticompetitive means to exclude competing providers of right-leaning video content from the market,” the filing states.
The first: so-called “no-carry” provisions that pressure distributors not to air other conservative outlets if they want Fox content.
Second, Newsmax contends Fox imposes “financial penalties” by forcing distributors to carry and pay high fees for its less popular channels such as Fox Business.
Finally, the suit says Fox inserts contractual barriers into carriage agreements that block competition outright.
“These tactics constitute unlawful restraints of trade and flow directly from Fox’s unlawful monopolization of the Right-leaning Pay TV News Market,” the lawsuit asserts. Newsmax is seeking an injunction to end these practices and is asking for triple damages it claims to have suffered as a result of being shut out.
Fox quickly dismissed the claims, framing them as a sign of weakness. “Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can’t attract viewers,” the network said in a statement.
For decades, Fox News has been the undisputed leader in cable news, with shows like The Five consistently topping ratings. Newsmax, by contrast, has built a smaller but loyal audience, particularly in the years since the 2020 presidential election.
While the network experienced a brief surge after that contest, its viewership remains far behind Fox — as well as behind MSNBC and CNN.
Still, Newsmax argues that it could have closed much of that gap if not for Fox’s grip on the market. By conditioning access to its must-have programming on exclusivity from distributors, the lawsuit contends, Fox has effectively cornered conservative cable news.
The filing reflects the difficulty of building alternatives in a media environment dominated by one giant player. While Fox insists that competitors’ struggles stem from audience choice, Newsmax portrays a system stacked against upstart voices.
The clash underscores a broader debate within conservative media: whether Fox’s dominance strengthens the movement by offering a singular powerhouse, or weakens it by preventing the rise of a diverse ecosystem of right-leaning outlets.
With its lawsuit, Newsmax is betting on the latter argument. “But for Fox’s anticompetitive behavior,” the network insists, its audience, advertising reach, and overall value would look vastly different today.
The court battle will determine whether the conservative media market is open to new entrants — or whether Fox’s grip remains nearly impossible to shake.
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