After deciding to drop Newsmax from its channel lineup, DirecTV has faced threats of Congressional investigations. Radio host Mike Gallagher believes that’s warranted.
“They’re trying to come after all of us. They’re trying to figure out a way to stop every single conservative outlet in America,” Gallagher said. “First, it was One America News. Now it’s Newsmax. AT&T and DirecTV refuse to pay Newsmax the carriage fees which is crucial to these TV networks. They refuse to pay these fees they pay everybody else, and Newsmax said ‘Enough. You’ve gotta be fair here. You’re not being fair, and you’re not paying us all these carriage fees you’re paying all these others.’
“Newsmax is the fourth news network right now in the country, behind Fox, and MSNBC, and CNN. ‘Nope, sorry, you’re out.’ You can make the argument ‘They’re a private company’. Nope. No, no, no. There’s all kinds of government subsidies and tax breaks. Congress has to investigate this. It’s time to hold Congressional hearings for this absolute blatant effort to silence a point of view that a woke company like AT&T and DirecTV doesn’t approve of.”
Representatives Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) and Michael Waltz (R-FL) each appeared on Newsmax Thursday, and discussed the possibility of Congressional hearings on the matter, with Van Drew saying “I’m certainly going to push for hearings and discussions about this. I think it’s more than necessary.”
DirecTV continues to contend it removed Newsmax after the cable channel demanded a carriage fee, which the satellite provider was not interested in paying. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy claims the channel is in the top 16 most-watched outlets on the service provider, warranting a carriage fee.
However, DirecTV countered by claiming that because Newsmax streams its programs for free on platforms like Roku, a carriage fee was not on the table.
With its removal from DirecTV, Newsmax’s reach has now decreased by 13 million homes.
