EXCLUSIVE — Republican members of Congress are urging DirecTV to reconsider dropping the conservative cable network Newsmax from its channel lineup, voicing concern that the decision affects their ability to reach constituents.
Freshman Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) said the TV provider’s inability to come to an agreement with Newsmax over cable fees signals “a political decision to censor conservative media, which is a red flag for the First Amendment.” Hunt sent a letter exclusively obtained by the Washington Examiner to DirecTV and its owners, AT&T and TPG Capital, co-signed by 41 other Republican lawmakers ahead of the company’s “deplatforming” of Newsmax this week.
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“I am deeply troubled by DirecTV’s decision to remove Newsmax from their lineup of channels,” Hunt said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Deplatforming Newsmax is the latest development in the Left’s ongoing campaign to purge voices they disagree with from the public sphere. This decision by DirecTV and TPG Capital will cut off tens of millions of viewers who rely on Newsmax for their news and information.”
“Newsmax is one of the most watched cable news channels in America; millions of people turn to Newsmax as a source of trusted information. Now more than ever, the American people need access to a free and fair press,” he continued. “I am sure that DirecTV will claim that removing Newsmax from their lineup of channels was purely a business decision, but that is hard to accept when liberal news channels like Vice Media continue to remain on the air. Vice is a ratings failure for DirecTV, yet they continue to profit from their relationship with DirecTV.”
The letter to the carrier highlights the new House Republican majority’s priority of investigating the politicization of media and the interplay between Democratic politicians and the legacy press. The letter recalls how Democratic members of the Energy and Commerce Committee urged major TV carriers to drop conservative networks Newsmax, Fox News, and One America News Network. In April 2022, DirecTV dropped pro-Trump OANN from its lineup, a move that was soon followed by Verizon Fios in August.
“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,” they wrote in the letter.
The lawmakers requested that DirecTV “provide to us the ratings for each of the networks noted above, with comparison data, including set-top box data, on all the other networks that are carried by DIRECTV, and the corresponding fees paid by your company to these networks.”
DirecTV told the Washington Examiner that it has responded to the letter and is working on complying with the lawmakers’ requests.
“We deliver Newsmax to our national base of satellite and IPTV customers today at no cost to the programmer or our customers, ultimately offering Newsmax the ability to generate considerable advertising revenue at no cost,” a DirecTV spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ve discussed with Newsmax on several occasions that we’d like to offer their programming, however, the network is now seeking significant fees that we cannot pass on to our broad customer base. Additionally, the same programming offered by Newsmax today is already available at no charge to 100% of U.S. households including our customers via NewsmaxTV.com, YouTube.com and on multiple streaming platforms like Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Google Play.”
Newsmax will be removed from DirecTV’s satellite lineup at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Hunt’s office. Newsmax did not respond to a request for comment.
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In one of the first acts of the new Congress, Republicans formed a select subcommittee to combat “government weaponization,” which includes the apparent influence of institutions including the White House and Department of Justice over the media’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic and stories including Hunter Biden’s laptop, in which certain viewpoints were censored. Hunt is a member of the Judiciary Committee and signaled that DirecTV could find itself under investigation as the new GOP majority gears up to scrutinize “conservative censorship.”
Read the full letter here:
This story has been updated with DirecTV’s statement.
