Part of Newsmax’s increased visibility as a public company is its desire to weigh on other issues. A July 23 press release-ish article by Jonathan Haymeier declared Newsmax’s opposition to a possible politicy change on TV station ownership:
In a forceful filing submitted Wednesday to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Newsmax Media, Inc. strongly opposed any effort to raise or eliminate the national television ownership limit — commonly known as the “Horizontal Ownership Cap.”
The independent media company warned that loosening current rules would stifle media diversity, diminish local news coverage, and consolidate political power over information distribution in the hands of a few major corporate players.
Newsmax’s filing comes in the wake of the FCC decision last month to review the Horizontal Ownership Cap.
In June the Commission released a Public Notice seeking new public comment on whether to retain, modify, or eliminate the 39% national audience reach cap and the associated “UHF discount.”
[…]Newsmax’s filing is not only a regulatory argument — it is a political warning.
“Americans of every political persuasion, demographic, and location would be harmed by any weakening of the current national television multiple ownership limit,” the company wrote in its formal comments to the FCC.
“Anything less would undermine Congress’ mandate to maintain competition, localism, and a diversity of voices and viewpoints.”
Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax, personally signed the 33-page document, which outlined a detailed case for preserving the current ownership structure and eliminating the so-called “UHF discount” — an outdated loophole that allows broadcasters to underreport their national reach by discounting UHF station coverage. [Due to digital broadcasting advancements, UHF signals now match or surpass VHF in quality, rendering the discount technologically obsolete.]
It was not mentioned that the number of available UHF channels has declined drastically as that part of the spectrum is repurposed; whereas UHF channels once spanned from 14 to 83, it now only goes from 14 to 36. It was also not explained why a cable broadcaster should have any say in what broadcast stations do. Instead, it was explained that keeping current ownership caps serves right-wing censorship by allegedly stopping the spread of right-wing news:
Ironically, Newsmax — a conservative media outlet often critical of federal regulatory overreach — says the Reagan era Ownership Cap was created to block liberal-leaning networks from owning local stations and completely controlling the news flow.
Too much concentration in the hands of a few media titans would ultimately silence smaller, independent, and especially conservative voices.
“If Left-leaning broadcast networks like CBS, ABC, and NBC acquired a high enough concentration of stations,” the company argued, “networks would have even less incentive to produce programming that reflects the views of local audiences.”
Newsmax believes that if these conglomerates gain too much reach, executives in New York and Los Angeles could dictate cultural and political narratives across the nation, especially in heartland and rural areas.
No evidence was offered that CBS, ABC and NBC are “left-leaning.” Instead, more ranting was offered:
In a pointed section of the filing, Newsmax accused rival media corporations — including Fox Corporation and Nexstar — of leveraging their broadcast dominance to undermine competition in the cable news space.
Newsmax claims that Fox Corporation has used strong-arm tactics with pay-TV distributors to stop them from offering Newsmax to consumers — in an apparent effort to protect Fox News Channel’s market share.
Similarly, Nexstar allegedly used its station ownership to inflate fees for its struggling NewsNation channel, even though Newsmax outperforms NewsNation in viewership.
“Allowing Fox Corporation to acquire more broadcast TV stations would increase its leverage…thereby bolstering its ability to restrict Newsmax from reaching as many U.S. TV households as possible,” the company warned.
Haymeier’s article ended with a rhetorical flourish:
Newsmax’s FCC submission taps into broad concerns about monopoly power, local representation, and the increasing nationalization of American media.
Newsmax says it is urging the FCC to reject any plan to increase the cap — not only to respect Congress’ clear instructions — but to protect against an unprecedented media consolidation that could dramatically upset the nation’s political balance.
That complaint turned out to be a precursor to an objection to an actual broadcast merger, which bore fruit in an Aug. 20 article:
In a landmark move announced Tuesday, Nexstar Media Group — the largest owner of local television stations in the U.S. — revealed plans to acquire Tegna, the fourth-largest broadcaster, in an all-cash deal valued at $6.2 billion.
If approved, this merger would put Nexstar — owner of the left-leaning NewsNation — as the nation’s dominant media conglomerate consolidating hundreds of stations across dozens of markets, and changing the landscape of local broadcasting.
[…]Conservatives, including Newsmax Media, have argued against giving liberal broadcasters more consolidated media power or market reach beyond what is permitted by law.
Nexstar owns the left-leaning NewsNation channel whose prime-time lineup has included anti-Trump media personalities like Chris Cuomo, Dan Abrams, and Ashleigh Banfield, among others.
Newsmax Media filed a forceful 33-page objection with the FCC on July 23, urging regulators to preserve the national television ownership cap — the “Horizontal Ownership Cap” — which limits any broadcaster from reaching more than 39% of U.S. television households.
In fact, as we documented, NewsNation is very much a right-leaning channel, created in part by former Fox News executive and whose lead prime-time host is former Fox News personality Leland Vittert.
Newsmax then teed up a favored analyst to oppose the merger in an Aug. 20 TV appearance:
Newsmax analyst Tom Basile says the proposed merger of TV giant Nexstar Media Group and Tegna poses a real danger to competition, conservative media, and viewpoint diversity.
He says Americans — and the Trump administration — should oppose the merger.
[…]Appearing on “American Agenda” on Wednesday, Basile sounded the alarm, calling the deal a threat to “viewpoint diversity.”
He also said it would override existing television ownership caps that President Reagan implemented in the 1980s to protect against media groups and networks controlling local news across the nation.
“This is about protecting free speech and different viewpoints,” Basile said.
No supporter of the merger was allowed to voice an opinion, and NewsNation was again falsely called “left-leaning.”