DirecTV settles promotion battle with Newsmax

DirecTV has signed a promotional deal with conservative news outlet Newsmax, ending two months of media industry acrimony that spilled over to Washington.

As part of the new multi-year deal, Newsmax will return to DirecTV satellite systems, DirecTV Stream internet bundles and U-Verse cable on Thursday. With approximately 13 million subscribers, DirecTV is one of the largest pay TV providers in the US

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the parties said Newsmax will be available at no additional cost to DirecTV subscribers. A live linear stream of Newsmax is available for free on YouTube, a fact DirecTV noted in its public statements protesting the news program’s fee demands, but that feed is expected to be discontinued later this year. Across all its linear and digital platforms, Newsmax claims to reach 40 million American homes.

The channel went dark in January, with DirecTV protesting the “significant fees” demanded by Newsmax. News agency CEO Chris Ruddy responded by blasting DirecTV for a “blatant act of political discrimination and censorship” and saying politics, not economics, motivated the dispute.

Ruddy is a personal friend of former President Donald Trump and the network has continued to cover Trump’s rallies. It helped promote his widely debunked allegations of fraud in the 2020 election process and is one of several media outlets being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation.

A group of Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), joined Newsmax to attack DirecTV for an “undemocratic assault on free speech.” The war of words continues, with many members of the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives citing the carriage fights as an example of violations of free speech.

The official announcement by both companies about the settlement of their dispute led to a disagreement over the financial terms. “Unfortunately, this is common in the pay-TV industry, and consumers are often caught in the middle,” the announcement said. The companies estimate that there have been 140 promotion disputes over the past five years, with DirecTV resolving about 50 such disputes. Distributors and programmers are increasingly burdened by cable cuts as millions of subscribers leave the pay-TV ecosystem each year. In 2021, AT&T decided to spin off DirecTV into a separate entity in 2021, with private equity firm TPG acquiring a 30% stake in the newly formed company.

“Newsmax recognizes and appreciates that DirecTV clearly supports diverse voices, including conservatives,” Ruddy said in a press release, reversing his earlier statements. “As a standalone company, DirecTV helped launch Newsmax nearly a decade ago as it continues to deal with up-and-coming news networks, and as such, we are pleased to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”

DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said the resolution “underscores our commitment to providing our customers with a wide variety of programming and perspectives.” He added: “Through our ongoing negotiations, we have reached a solution on mutually acceptable terms that will allow us to deliver the conservative news network at fair value – a reflection of the workings of the free market.”