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Newsmax TV

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Newsmax TV
Newsmax TV Logo.png
Logo used until 2021
CountryUnited States
Broadcast areaNationwide
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to widescreen 480i for SDTVs)
Ownership
OwnerNewsmax Media
History
LaunchedJune 16, 2014; 7 years ago (2014-06-16)
Links
WebcastLive News
Websitewww.newsmaxtv.com
Availability
Cable
Available on many American cable providersChannel slots may vary on each operator
Satellite
DishChannel 216
DirecTVChannel 349
IPTV
Prism TVChannel 209 (SD)
Channel 1209 (HD)
Verizon FiOSChannel 115 (SD)
Channel 615 (HD)
AT&T U-verseChannel 1220 (HD)
Streaming media
FuboTV, Pluto TV, Sling TV, Xumo, Plex, , , YouTube Live

Newsmax TV is an American conservative news channel owned by Newsmax Media. The network primarily focuses on opinion-based talk shows. It carries a news/talk format throughout the day and night, with documentaries and films on weekends. During the 2020 United States presidential election, it grew rapidly by broadcasting conspiracy theories and false allegations of voter fraud.[1][2][3]

The channel was created by American journalist and Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy. It launched on June 16, 2014 to 35 million satellite subscribers through DirecTV and Dish Network.[4] As of May 2019, the network reaches about 75 million cable homes and has wide streaming and digital media player/mobile device availability.[5] The channel primarily broadcasts from Newsmax's New York studio on Manhattan's East Side, with two headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. and Washington, D.C.[6][7][better source needed]

Newsmax TV holds a conservative-leaning political stance, broadcasting many programs hosted by conservative media personalities. CEO Christopher Ruddy has compared the network to Fox News. The company has hired many former Fox News Channel program hosts, including Greg Kelly, Rob Schmitt, Bob Sellers, and Heather Childers.[8][9] 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 controversies, though Newsmax never hired either personality.[10]

History

Network launch

In May 2014, U.S. news organization Newsmax Media announced that it had signed a distribution deal with DirecTV and would launch a national television news channel to compete directly with CNN, Fox News, and other American news networks. It was launched to provide independent news; its founder, Chris Ruddy described it as intended to be a “kinder, gentler Fox News,” saying that “Our goal is to be a little more boomer-oriented, more information-based rather than being vituperative and polarizing.”[9]

Around the time of the channel launch, Businessweek Bloomberg profiled Ruddy and Newsmax in a feature story entitled “The Next Ailes: Newsmax’s Chris Ruddy Preps TV Rival to Fox News.  [11] Businessweek Bloomberg reported that Newsmax planned to build off its success as a digital media player to challenge Fox News in the traditional cable arena while developing a stake in the emerging streaming OTT business.

A Fast Company report in December 2020 suggested Newsmax was on a course to “dethrone” Fox with its streaming digital strategy by offering the channel for free to platforms like Roku, Youtube, Pluto, Xumo and others. “You wouldn’t know it by looking at cable TV ratings, but Fox News has a problem on its hands,” Fast Company wrote, noting that “When you factor in Newsmax’s streaming audience, the race between the two right-wing news networks is closer than you might think.”[12]

On January 16, 2016, Dennis Michael Lynch: Unfiltered debuted on the channel.[citation needed] The program ended after the first segment of the August 10, 2016, episode after Lynch announced that he would resign from the network and made comments defending Fox News Channel and criticizing his network for its reporting of the Trump campaign and suggesting they were restricting his editorial control; he was escorted out from the network's New York studio during what would have been the first commercial break.[13][14] It was replaced the next Monday with an hour-long video simulcast of radio's The Howie Carr Show from WRKO in Boston.[15]

Beginning in 2020, the network significantly ramped up programming, adding evening shows with Greg Kelly, a former Fox News and local affiliate host, and Grant Stinchfield, a former NBC local correspondent and ex-NRA TV host.[16] The network launched Spicer & Co. on March 3, 2020, featuring former Trump White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and co-host Lyndsay Keith,[17][18] The network's overnight programming is mainly made up of repeats of Newsmax’s evening show line-up and historical documentaries.[citation needed]

2020 election

During the 2020 United States presidential election, then-President Trump began to promote Newsmax over rival competitor Fox News.[6][19][20] Trump's preference for Newsmax over Fox News became clearer after the latter became the first news outlet to call Arizona for Democratic challenger Joe Biden.[21] Newsmax has made their more conservative leanings a selling point to disaffected Fox News viewers, as well as employing Fox News alumni to join their lineup on Newsmax TV, such as Rob Schmitt and Greg Kelly.[21][22][23]

After the election was won by Democrat Joe Biden, Newsmax struck a defiant tone, focusing on conspiracy theories and baseless allegations of voter fraud as a way to attract Fox News viewers angered by what they saw as insufficient loyalty to Trump.[1][2][3] Emily VanDerWerff of Vox reported that the outlet did not "go full arch-conservative" and "doesn't give airtime to QAnon paranoiacs", but that it "spent lots of time arguing that other media outlets jumped the gun in calling the election for Biden and that Trump still has a path to win this thing."[24]

CNN's Brian Stelter, in an on-air interview, asked Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy why the network chose to air "election denialism" and "bogus voter fraud stuff," to which Ruddy replied that the network featured all points of view and argued that all of the other major news outlets who had reported Biden’s election win were “rushing”.[25]

Since the election, Newsmax has seen increasing viewership; according to Nielsen, Newsmax averaged 182,000 viewers in the week leading up to the election. In the week that followed, the average increased further with daily averages around 400,000 viewers, with Greg Kelly Reports and Spicer & Co. having attracted numbers in the 700,000-800,000 range.[26] On December 7, 2020, Greg Kelly Reports beat its timeslot competitor on Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, in average key demographic viewership for the first time (229,000 to 203,000), while Stelter observed that overall the program "has nearly a million viewers on a good night".[27]

Notable personalities

Program hosts

  • John Bachman: Host of John Bachman Now
  • Tom Basile: Host of America Right Now
  • : Host of Save the Nation
  • Nancy Brinker: Host of Conversations with Nancy Brinker
  • Eric Bolling: Host of Eric Bolling The Balance
  • Howie Carr: Host of The Howie Carr Show
  • : Host of Rob Carson’s What In The World?
  • : Co-host of Cortes & Pellegrino
  • Diamond and Silk: Hosts of Diamond and Silk Crystal Clear
  • Rob Finnerty: Host of Wake Up America
  • Sebastian Gorka: Host of The Gorka Reality Check and fill-in host for Greg Kelly Reports
  • Mark Halperin: Host of Mark Halperin’s Focus Group
  • Carl Higbie: Host of Saturday Report
  • Mike Huckabee: Host of Huckabee (shared with TBN)
  • Benny Johnson: Host of The Benny Report
  • : Host of The Mark Kaye Show
  • : Co-host of Spicer & Co.
  • Greg Kelly: Host of Greg Kelly Reports
  • Jane King: Host of New To The Street
  • : Co-host of National Report
  • Michelle Malkin: Host of Michelle Malkin Sovereign Nation and former host of Michelle Malkin Investigates
  • Dick Morris: Host of Dick Morris Democracy
  • : Co-host of Cortes & Pellegrino
  • : Host of Saturday Agenda
  • : Co-host of National Report
  • : Host of The Chris Salcedo Show
  • Bob Sellers: Host of American Agenda
  • Rob Schmitt: Host of Rob Schmitt Tonight
  • Sean Spicer: Co-host of Spicer & Co.
  • : Host of Stinchfield
  • : Host of Wise Guys with John Tabacco

Correspondents and substitute anchors

  • Mike Carter - National correspondent
  • Heather Childers
  • Leonardo Feldman - Southeastern US, Latin America & Caribbean correspondent; based in Miami
  • John Gizzi - Chief political columnist and Senior White House correspondent
  • Emerald Robinson - White House correspondent
  • Logan Ratick - National correspondent
  • Alex Salvi - Rome correspondent

Regular guests and contributors

Previous

  • Steve Bannon – Former host of War Room
  • – Former host of Midpoint with Ed Berliner and The Hard Line with Ed Berliner
  • Herman Cain – Was slated to host a show for Newsmax TV but died of coronavirus disease before making it to series[28]
  • Callista Gingrich – Former host of Let Freedom Ring
  • J. D. Hayworth – Former host of Newsmax Prime
  • Dennis Michael Lynch – Former host of Dennis Michael Lynch: Unfiltered
  • Steve Malzberg – Former host of America Talks Live and The Steve Malzberg Show
  • Bill O'Reilly – Host of No Spin News with Bill O'Reilly (since moved to The First)
  • Joe Pags – Host of The Joe Pags Show (now radio-only)
  • Wayne Allyn Root – Host of The Wayne Allyn Root Show (now radio-only)
  • Jesse Lee Peterson – Host of The Jesse Lee Peterson Show (now radio-only)
  • Todd Schnitt – Host of The Schnitt Show
  • Ben Swann – Former fill-in host of The Steve Malzberg Show

Terrestrial affiliates

Newsmax TV mainly depends on its carriage on cable services for viewership, along with streaming on their website and open digital media player platforms such as Roku and in the UK via online video subscription service . However, the network carries a small base of free-to-air terrestrial television affiliates.

Current affiliates

City Callsign Virtual channel
Alexandria, Minnesota K20AC-D 20.2

Former affiliates

Market Station Channel Notes
Atlanta, Georgia WTBS-LD 26.5 Replaced with AMGTV
Atlanta, Georgia WEQT-LD 9.1
Augusta, Georgia WAAU-LD 23.2 Replaced with infomercials
Cincinnati, Ohio WOTH-CD 20.5 Station sold spectrum in 2016 FCC auction and permanently signed off
Detroit, Michigan WUDL-LD 19.4 Replaced evine
Detroit, Michigan WADL (TV) 38.1 Disaffiliated, became independent
Fayetteville, North Carolina WNCB-LD 16.4 Replaced by infomercials
Fort Smith, Arkansas KFLU-LD 20.6 Replaced with Heroes & Icons
Fresno, California KVBC-LP 13.10 Replaced with Jewelry Television
Kansas City, Kansas KCKS-LD 25.5 Replaced with America's Voice
Las Vegas, Nevada KNBX-CD 31.2 Replaced with Christian Television Network
Los Angeles, California KHIZ-LD 39.1 Replaced with Court TV Mystery
Louisburg, Kansas KMJC-LD 25.5 Replaced with America's Voice
Lubbock, Texas KNKC-LD 29.7
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico W51DJ-D 51.1 Replaced with Azteca América
Montgomery, Alabama WDSF-LD 19.5
Nashville, Tennessee WKUW-LD 40.4 Replaced with The Country Network, then Quest
Orlando, Florida WSWF-LD 20.6
Phoenix, Arizona KFPB-LD 50.6 Replaced with Stadium
Ponce, Puerto Rico W31DL-D 36.1 License cancelled October 4, 2018 in post-Hurricane Maria fallout
Sacramento, California KFMS-LD 47.6 Channel went dark
San Juan, Puerto Rico W26DK-D 25.2 Replaced with OnTV4U
Topeka, Kansas WROB-LD 25.5 Replaced with America's Voice
Washington, DC WMDE 36.1 Replaced with simulcast of WRNN-TV under new ownership
West Palm Beach, Florida WHDT 9.1 Replaced with Court TV under new ownership
Wichita, Kansas KGPT-CD 26.7

References

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Roose, Kevin (November 12, 2020). "Newsmax courts Fox News viewers with election denialism". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 29, 2020 – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Lahut, Jake. "Newsmax CEO says Trump's baseless voter fraud claims are 'great for news' in off the rails interview". Business Insider. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Trump-friendly Newsmax a sudden competitor to Fox News". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "Newsmax network debuts Monday on Dish, DirecTV". USA TODAY. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  5. ^ "Newsmax Grabs Fox Distribution Executive". May 14, 2019.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Man, Anthony. "South Florida's Newsmax rides wave of interest as Donald Trump urges supporters to turn off Fox News". sun-sentinel.com. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  7. ^ Polsky, Sara (November 20, 2012). "10 Buildings Possibly Endangered by a Midtown East Rezoning". Curbed NY. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  8. ^ Barr, Jeremy. "Newsmax hopes conservative anger at Fox News and a few Trump tweets can boost the much smaller network".
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "The Next Ailes: Newsmax's Chris Ruddy Preps TV Rival to Fox News". Bloomberg. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  10. ^ Barr, Jeremy. "Newsmax has emerged as a landing spot for cable news personalities in need of a new home". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  11. ^ www.bloomberg.com https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-03-06/newsmaxs-chris-ruddy-preps-tv-network-to-rival-fox-news. Retrieved July 13, 2021. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ Newman, Jared (December 7, 2020). "Newsmax's plan to dethrone Fox News: Build a streaming empire". Fast Company. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  13. ^ "Newsmax Host Taken Off the Air After Calling Out His Network During Live Broadcast". www.mediaite.com. August 11, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  14. ^ Emery, Debbie (August 11, 2016). "Newsmax Host Dennis Michael Lynch Is Pulled Off the Air for Defending Fox News". Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  15. ^ NewsmaxTV (August 15, 2016), Newsmax Prime | Howie Carr talks about Newsmax TV broadcasting an hour of his popular radio show, retrieved August 16, 2016
  16. ^ Short, Aaron. "The reinvention of Greg Kelly from charismatic New York insider to firebrand Trump booster". Insider. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "Sean Spicer Joins Newsmax TV Lineup". Broadcasting+Cable. February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  18. ^ "Greg Kelly now anchoring nightly opinion-based show on Newsmax TV". Newsday. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  19. ^ Analysis by Brian Stelter. "Trump voters are flocking to a TV channel that claims Biden is not president-elect". CNN. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  20. ^ "Donald Trump attacks Fox News: 'They forgot the golden goose'". the Guardian. November 13, 2020. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b Barr, Jeremy (November 10, 2020). "Newsmax hopes conservative anger at Fox News and a few Trump tweets can boost the much smaller network". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  22. ^ Zara, Christopher (November 10, 2020). "Newsmax could end up being the Fox News of the post-Trump era". Fast Company. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  23. ^ "Trump voters are flocking to a TV channel that claims Biden is not president-elect". Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  24. ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (November 12, 2020). "My two days watching Newsmax, the network waging war on Fox News from the right". Vox. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  25. ^ Beckett, Lois; Wong, Julia Carrie (November 10, 2020). "The misinformation media machine amplifying Trump's election lies". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  26. ^ Stelter, Brian (November 12, 2020). "Trump voters are flocking to a TV channel that claims Biden is not president-elect". CNN. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  27. ^ Stelter, Brian (December 8, 2020). "Newsmax TV scores a ratings win over Fox News for the first time ever". CNN Business. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  28. ^ Calabrese, Dan (July 30, 2020). "We're heartbroken, and the world is poorer: Herman Cain has gone to be with the Lord". The Cain Gang.
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