AT&T's loss of an estimated $10 billion in stock since Jan. 24, when its subsidiary, DirecTV, deplatformed Newsmax, should make the companies realize Newsmax is worth keeping, Rep. Claudia Tenney said Tuesday.
"You'd certainly think in a market economy that we supposedly have or should have, the dollar sign should make DirecTV and A&T& realize that Newsmax is valuable and we need to provide a diverse amount of voices in one platform," the New York Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
Tenney said her "biggest concern" in the dispute is that DirecTV has replaced Newsmax on its channel listings, claiming that it "created a conservative site somewhere else."
DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is returned! Oppose censorship – sign The Petition – Click Here
"We have to have all ideas in places that are readily available to the American people," she said. "There's a special privileges [clause] given under the First Amendment to media for exposing and talking about our government. We need all those viewpoints recognized."
Newsmax has a "recognized viewpoint," Tenney said. "This is a First Amendment issue with Newsmax, not to mention the fact of the money they're losing by not having [it] on their platform."
Newsmax is America's fourth highest-rated news network in the cable landscape and a top-20 overall channel that reaches 25 million Americans weekly, according to the Nielsen ratings.
DirecTV said it dropped the popular network due to "cost-cutting" measures, but AT&T's DirecTV carries 22 left-leaning news channels, many of which draw considerably lower ratings than Newsmax, and those channels get paid license fees.
DirecTV claimed Newsmax was demanding "excessive fees" that would amount to "tens of millions" of dollars. Newsmax denied that, saying it is seeking an approximate fee of $1 per cable subscriber per year, among the lowest requested fees in cable.
"This was never about the fees being excessive," Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said. "DirecTV's position has always been that Newsmax — of all cable news channels — should never get any cable fee whatsoever, not one penny."
Actions to Take Now
1. DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is back on air!
2. Call your congressman or senator at 202-224-3121 and demand they stop AT&T/DirecTV's censorship of NEWSMAX — ask them to give you a date on the hearings!
3. Go to our online petition and get more info: iWantNewsmax.com.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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