A conservative TV channel that caters to former President Donald Trump and his followers, may be dropped by DirecTV this week in a dispute over so-called carriage fees.
Newsmax could get pulled from the satellite network as soon as Wednesday, according to a published report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The channel rose in popularity in late 2020, at the height of Trump’s lies over his loss in the presidential election. It continues to carry coverage of Trump’s periodic rallies, drawing a small, but loyal audience.
DirecTV, Newsmax Agreement Expiring
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Newsmax’s current agreement with DirecTV expires this week, according to the report. Newsmax is seeking payment from DirecTV to carry its programming. However the satellite network has so far declined. (It does pay a fee to carry major cable news operations.)
Newsmax content is freely available via streaming platforms and any fee would likely have to be passed on to its customers.
The case echoes that of another conservative channel favored by Trump, OANN, which was dropped from DirecTV last year.
That has drawn the attention of Republican elected officials.
“If Newsmax is removed from DirecTV, in less than a year House Republicans will have lost two of the three cable news channels that reach conservative voters on a platform that primarily serves conservative-leaning areas of the country,” a letter from Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, to the carrier said, according to the report. The letter was co-signed by several dozen other Republican legislators. Hunt won election in Texas’ newly created 38th congressional district near Houston in November.
DirecTV has said it could continue to carry Newsmax under the same terms it does now, with no payment but giving the channel an additional two minutes of ad time an hour to sell.
AT&T (T) spun off DirecTV in 2021, selling a 30% stake to private equity firm TPG, while retaining a 70% share.
