Newsmax TV is an American
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
television channel
A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, wit ...
owned by
Newsmax. 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 and after the
2020 United States presidential election, it grew rapidly by broadcasting conspiracy theories and baseless allegations of voter fraud.
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
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California, El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary ...
and
Dish Network
DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV ...
. As of May 2019, the network reaches about 75 million cable homes and has wide
streaming and
digital media player/mobile device availability. The channel primarily broadcasts from Newsmax's New York studio on
Manhattan's East Side
The East Side of Manhattan refers to the side of Manhattan which abuts the East River and faces Brooklyn and Queens. Fifth Avenue, Central Park from 59th to 110th Streets, and Broadway below 8th Street separate it from the West Side.
The major ...
, with headquarters in
Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...
and
Washington, D.C.
Newsmax TV holds a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
political stance, broadcasting many programs hosted by conservative media personalities. CEO
Christopher Ruddy has compared the network to
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...
. The company has hired many former
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...
program hosts, including
Greg Kelly,
Rob Schmitt,
Bob Sellers, and
Heather Childers.
''The Washington Post'' has 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 allegations of
sexual harassment.
History
Network launch
In May 2014, U.S. news organization
Newsmax 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
Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. The ...
-oriented, more information-based rather than being vituperative and polarizing."
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. 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 TV, Xumo, Samsung TV Plus 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."
On January 16, 2016, ''
Dennis Michael Lynch
Dennis Michael Lynch better known to friends and fans as "DML", (born August 28, 1969) is an American businessman, documentary film maker, podcast host and news personality. Currently, he is the founder and CEO of TeamDML Inc, a company specia ...
: Unfiltered'' debuted on the channel. 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
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...
and criticizing his network for its reporting of the
Trump campaign There have been four presidential campaigns waged by Donald Trump for President of the United States. He has additionally mused about running on several other occasions.
Donald Trump presidential campaign may refer to:
* Donald Trump 2000 presid ...
and suggesting they were restricting his editorial control; he was escorted out from the network's
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
studio during what would have been the first commercial break. It was replaced the next Monday with an hour-long video simulcast of radio's ''
The Howie Carr Show'' from
WRKO
WRKO (680 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by iHeartMedia, WRKO is a Class B AM station that provides secondary coverage to portio ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
.
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. The network launched ''Spicer & Co.'' on March 3, 2020, featuring former Trump
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and co-host Lyndsay Keith, Historically, the network started out with a documentary-heavy lineup, but as of 2022, replays of daily and weekend shows make up the bulk of the network's late night programming, like most news channels.
2020 election
During the
2020 United States presidential election, then-President Trump began to promote Newsmax over rival competitor
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...
.
Trump's preference for Newsmax over Fox News became clearer after the latter became the first news outlet to call
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...
for Democratic challenger
Joe Biden.
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.
After the election was won by Democrat
Joe Biden, Newsmax struck a defiant tone, focusing on conspiracy theories and allegations of voter fraud as a way to attract
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...
viewers angered by what they saw as insufficient loyalty to Trump.
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."
Newsmax was thus positioned further to the right of Fox but less so than
One America News Network, another conservative news channel that embraced a
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...
editorial stance during and after the Trump administration.
[
CNN's ]Brian Stelter
Brian Patrick Stelter (born September 3, 1985) is an American journalist best known as the former chief media correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN program '' Reliable Sources'', roles he held from 2013 to 2022. Stelter is also a former medi ...
, 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."
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. 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".
A small number of cable providers, including Breezeline (formerly Atlantic Broadband), dropped the channel in January 2022, noting the channel's wide free availability on streaming advertising-supported video-on-demand platforms, and that their drop of the channel came due to paid carriage being required by Newsmax TV, not its content.
As of October 2022, Newsmax was in a distant fourth place among the cable news channels, behind Fox News, CNN and MSNBC but ahead of NewsNation
NewsNation is an American subscription television network owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and is the company's only wholly-owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel runs a mixture of entertainment programming (consist ...
.
Notable personalities
Program hosts
* John Bachman: host of ''John Bachman Now'' and former co-host of ''Newsmax Now''
* Tom Basile: host of ''America Right Now'' and fill-in host, former co-host of ''Wake Up America Weekend''
* Wendy Bell: host of ''Wendy Bell Common Sense''
* Nancy Brinker
Nancy Goodman Brinker (born December 6, 1946) is the founder of The Promise Fund and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization named after her only sister, who died from breast cancer. Brinker was also United States Ambassador to Hungary fro ...
: host of ''Conversations with Nancy Brinker''
* Eric Bolling: host of ''Eric Bolling The Balance''
* Rob Carson: host of ''Rob Carson’s What In The World?''
* Rob Finnerty: co-host of ''Wake Up America''
* Sebastian Gorka: host of ''The Gorka Reality Check'' and fill-in host for ''Greg Kelly Reports''
* Carl Higbie
Carlton Milo Higbie IV (born April 23, 1983) is an American conservative political activist, author, and former U.S. Navy SEAL. He was director of advocacy for America First Policies, a group that promotes Donald Trump's policy agenda. In Au ...
: host of ''Wake Up America Weekend'' and fill-in host, former host of ''Saturday Report''
* Mike Huckabee
Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, and political commentator who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nominat ...
: host of '' Huckabee'' (shared with TBN)
* Benny Johnson: host of ''The Benny Report''
* Mark Kaye: host of ''The Mark Kaye Show''
* Lyndsay Keith: co-host of ''Spicer & Co.''
* Greg Kelly: host of ''Greg Kelly Reports''
* Shaun Kraisman: co-host of ''National Report''
* Alison Maloni: co-host of ''Wake Up America Weekend'' and fill-in host
* Dick Morris: host of ''Dick Morris Democracy''
* Jenn Pellegrino: host of ''Prime News'' and former co-host of ''Cortes & Pellegrino''
* Emma Rechenberg: co-host of ''National Report''
* Chris Salcedo: 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.''
* John Tabacco: host of ''Wise Guys with John Tabacco''
* Greta Van Susteren: host of ''The Record''
Correspondents and substitute anchors
* Olly Barratt – London correspondent
* Amanda Brilhante
* Mike Carter – national correspondent and fill-in host of ''The Count''
* Julia Chapman – Moscow correspondent
* Michael A. Charbon – Toronto correspondent
* Heather Childers
* Daniel Cohen – Jerusalem correspondent
* Rita Cosby – fill-in host of ''Saturday Report''
* Bianca de la Garza
* Kilmeny Duchardt – Congressional correspondent and fill-in host of ''American Agenda'' and ''The Count''
* Leonardo Feldman – Miami correspondent
* Patrick Fok – Beijing correspondent
* Giles Gibson – Moscow correspondent
* John Gizzi – Chief political columnist and Senior White House correspondent
* Chuck Holton – foreign correspondent
* Jaeson Jones – border correspondent
* Alex Kraemer
* Betsy McCaughey – fill-in host
* Trent Murray – Berlin correspondent
* Logan Ratick – national correspondent
* James Rosen – Chief White House correspondent
* Alex Salvi – Rome correspondent
* Mercedes Schlapp
Mercedes Schlapp ( Viana; born December 27, 1972) is an American communications specialist and political commentator for both English and Spanish media. She has served in two presidential administrations as director of specialty media under George ...
– fill-in host
* Stuart Smith – Moscow correspondent
* Christina Thompson
* Toni Waterman – Texas correspondent
* Sarah Williamson
Regular guests and contributors
* Bob Barr
Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician. He served as a federal prosecutor and as a Congressman. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr atta ...
– former Congressman from Georgia
* Ben Carson
Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. A pioneer in the field of neurosurgery, ...
– former HUD Secretary
* Chrissy Clark
* Al D'Amato
Alfonse Marcello D'Amato (born August 1, 1937) is an American politician born in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. He served as United States Senator for New York between 1981 and 1999. He subsequently founded a lobbying firm, Park Strategies.
...
– former Senator from New York
* Danny Danon – former Israeli UN ambassador
* Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appointe ...
– former host of ''You and The Law''
* Joseph diGenova
Joseph diGenova (born February 22, 1945) is an American lawyer and political commentator who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1983 to 1988. He and his wife, Victoria Toensing, are partners in the Washingt ...
* Jessie Jane Duff
* Jenna Ellis
* Erin Elmore
* Tom Fitton
* Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grands ...
* John Fund
* Andrew Giuliani
Andrew Harold Giuliani (born January 30, 1986) is an American political commentator and golfer. He was a special assistant to the President and associate director of the Office of Public Liaison, during the Trump Administration, Trump administrat ...
* Richard Grenell
* Mark Halperin – former host of ''Mark Halperin’s Focus Group''
* Nan Hayworth – former Congresswoman from New York
* Ron Kessler
Ronald Borek Kessler (born Ronald Borek; December 31, 1943) is an American journalist and author of 21 non-fiction books about the White House, U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and CIA.
Personal life
Kessler was born in New York City to Dr. Ernest Bo ...
* Peter King – former Congressman from New York
* Bryan E. Leib
* Peter Morici
* Michael Reagan
Michael Edward Reagan (born March 18, 1945) is an American political commentator, Republican strategist, and former radio talk show host. He is the adopted son of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman. He ...
– President Reagan's son
* Trish Regan
* Christopher Ruddy – Newsmax founder
* Rick Santorum
Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's third ...
– former Senator from Pennsylvania
* Matt Schlapp
* Winsome Earle Sears – Virginia Lt. Governor
* Jordan Sekulow
Jordan Sekulow (born July 14, 1982) is an American lawyer, radio talk show host, former ''Washington Post'' blogger, political consultant, and author.
A veteran of three Presidential campaigns, Sekulow is the executive director at the American ...
* T.W. Shannon
* Craig Shirley
* Abraham Jacob Terkeltaub
* Victoria Toensing
Victoria Ann Toensing (née Long; born October 16, 1941) is an American attorney, Republican Party operative and with her husband, Joseph diGenova, a partner in the Washington law firm diGenova & Toensing. Toensing and diGenova frequently appea ...
* Scott Walker – former Wisconsin Governor
* Heather Zumarraga
Previous
* Steve Bannon
Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during the ...
– host of ''War Room'' (moved to Real America's Voice)
* Ed Berliner – former host of ''Midpoint with Ed Berliner'' and ''The Hard Line with Ed Berliner''
* Adam Brandon – former host of ''Save the Nation''
* Herman Cain
Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's de ...
– was slated to host a show for Newsmax TV but died of coronavirus disease before making it to series
* Howie Carr – host of ''The Howie Carr Show'' (now radio-only)
* Steve Cortes – former co-host of ''Cortes & Pellegrino''
* Callista Gingrich
Callista Louise Gingrich (née Bisek; March 4, 1966) is an American businesswoman, author, documentary film producer and former diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to the Holy See from 2017 to 2021. She is married to former House Spe ...
– former host of ''Let Freedom Ring''
* J. D. Hayworth – former host of ''Newsmax Prime'' and ''America's Forum''
* Miranda Khan – former co-host of ''Newsmax Now''
* Dennis Michael Lynch
Dennis Michael Lynch better known to friends and fans as "DML", (born August 28, 1969) is an American businessman, documentary film maker, podcast host and news personality. Currently, he is the founder and CEO of TeamDML Inc, a company specia ...
– former host of ''Dennis Michael Lynch: Unfiltered''
* Michelle Malkin
Michelle Malkin (; Maglalang; born October 20, 1970) is an American conservative political commentator. She was a Fox News contributor and in May 2020 joined Newsmax TV. Malkin has written seven books and founded the conservative websites T ...
– former host of ''Michelle Malkin Sovereign Nation''
* 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 F1rst)
* Joe Pags
Joseph John Pagliarulo (born August 1, 1966), also known on the air as Joe Pags, is an American nationally syndicated conservative television and radio talk show host.
Biography
Born in Amityville, New York, Pagliarulo later lived in nearby C ...
– host of ''The Joe Pags Show'' (now radio-only)
* Joe Pinion – former host of ''Saturday Agenda'' and fill-in host
* Emerald Robinson – former White House correspondent
* Rachel Rollar – former co-host of ''Wake Up America''
* 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 – former 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
Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services.
The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduce ...
and in the UK via online video subscription service NewsPlayer+. It has historically made its feed available to free-to-air terrestrial television affiliates, but those affiliations as of 2021 have mostly been discontinued, except for a single affiliate in Alexandria, Minnesota
Alexandria is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Minnesota, United States. First settled in 1858, it was named after brothers Alexander and William Kinkead from Maryland. The form of the name alludes to Alexandria, Egypt, a center ...
, which carries the Newsmax feed as part of Selective TV's slate of cable and terrestrial stations to the Alexandria area.
Current affiliates
Former affiliates
References
{{Television news in the United States
2014 establishments in the United States
Television networks in the United States
English-language television stations in the United States
Conservative media in the United States
Television channels and stations established in 2014
Television news in the United States