On September 3, 2025, a new chapter in the ongoing rivalry between conservative media outlets unfolded in a Miami federal court. Newsmax, the upstart right-leaning news network, filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation, accusing the media giant of monopolistic tactics that Newsmax claims have stifled competition and limited consumer choice in the politically conservative television news market.
The 31-page complaint, as reported by CNBC, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, and NPR, details a series of alleged exclusionary practices by Fox. Newsmax asserts that Fox has engaged in a “suite of anticompetitive behaviors,” including coercing pay-TV distributors into “exclusionary and restrictive agreements,” imposing financial penalties on those who carry Newsmax, and even hiring private detective firms to investigate Newsmax executives. According to the lawsuit, these actions have not only harmed Newsmax but also suppressed competition and ultimately hurt consumers by reducing their choices for right-leaning news coverage.
“Fox is using its monopoly power on the center-right news market to stop Newsmax from getting distribution and becoming a top competitor to them,” Newsmax founder and CEO Christopher Ruddy told NPR. Ruddy, a former New York Post reporter, didn’t mince words in a separate statement: “Fox may have profited from exclusionary contracts and intimidation tactics for years, but those days are over.”
The lawsuit claims that but for Fox’s alleged anticompetitive conduct, Newsmax would have enjoyed greater pay TV distribution, seen its audience and ratings grow sooner, and gained a critical mass for major advertisers. “These tactics constitute unlawful restraints of trade and flow directly from Fox’s unlawful monopolization of the Right-leaning Pay TV News Market,” the suit alleges, as summarized by CNBC.
Fox News, for its part, was quick to dismiss the accusations. In a statement shared with multiple outlets, the network responded, “Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can’t attract viewers.” A spokesperson for Fox Corp. declined to comment further when asked by NPR.
The legal battle comes at a time when the business of politically conservative news is booming. Since its launch in 1996, Fox News has become the undisputed ratings leader among cable news channels, routinely drawing roughly 3 million viewers during primetime, according to MSNBC. Newsmax, which started as a website in 1998 and launched as a TV channel in 2014, averages less than 300,000 primetime viewers, but has steadily gained ground—especially following the contentious aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
The roots of the current dispute trace back to that election night, when Fox News was the first network to call Arizona for Joe Biden, angering much of its pro-Trump audience. As Fox’s ratings briefly dipped, executives cited Newsmax as a rising threat. Internal communications, revealed during the high-profile Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit against Fox, showed Fox Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch telling CEO Suzanne Scott that Newsmax “should be watched.” Other executives noted that losing even 5-10% of Fox’s audience to Newsmax could “drastically change the landscape.”
Newsmax’s lawsuit contends that Fox’s dominance is not just a function of its popularity, but of calculated market control. The suit alleges that Fox leverages its “must-have” status with cable and digital providers—such as Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV+, Sling TV, and YouTube TV, which now make up about 30% of the pay-TV market—to pressure these platforms into limiting Newsmax’s carriage and promotion. According to Newsmax, Fox charges pay-TV distributors nearly $2.20 per subscriber per month for Fox News, double the fee for CNN and about six times that of MSNBC. “These inflated costs have been or likely will be passed on to consumers,” Newsmax said in a statement reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Newsmax also alleges that Fox’s contracts often require distributors who carry Newsmax or other competitors to also carry Fox’s less-watched channels, such as Fox Business, at high fees. These “onerous demands,” the suit claims, are designed to crowd out rivals and ensure Fox’s continued dominance in the right-leaning news space. Newsmax’s legal team calls these arrangements “contractual barriers... intended to prevent Newsmax and others from competing.”
Adding another layer of intrigue, Newsmax accuses Fox of resorting to intimidation tactics, including hiring private investigators to target Newsmax executives and pressuring guests not to appear on Newsmax’s programs. “It also hired private investigators targeting Newsmax executives to damage the company’s credibility,” the lawsuit alleges, as cited by the Los Angeles Times.
Newsmax’s complaint is not just a battle for market share—it’s also about how the market itself is defined. The network argues that the “right-leaning pay TV news market” is distinct from the broader universe of cable news, which includes CNN and MSNBC. “A large segment of consumers of political news and media seeks news, commentary, and analysis that aligns with or speaks to their political viewpoints,” the lawsuit states. “These right-leaning viewers treat other right-leaning news channels as their next best substitute—and do not consider left-leaning news outlets as adequate substitutes for right-leaning news channels.”
Newsmax, which became a publicly traded company earlier in 2025 and raised $75 million in its initial public offering, saw its stock close down nearly 1% to $13.84 on the day the lawsuit was filed. The company is seeking a jury trial, a permanent injunction barring Fox’s allegedly exclusionary agreements, and triple damages plus pre- and post-judgment interest “at the highest legal rate.” While the exact damages are unspecified, Ruddy told CNBC that the figure will be “significant and serious.”
This legal salvo is just the latest in a string of courtroom battles for both networks. In 2023, Fox News agreed to pay over $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems over false claims aired about the 2020 election. Newsmax settled similar claims for $67 million and paid $40 million to Smartmatic, another election technology company that is currently seeking $2.7 billion from Fox in an ongoing lawsuit.
The outcome of Newsmax’s antitrust suit could have far-reaching implications for the conservative media landscape. As Newsmax CEO Ruddy put it in a statement: “This lawsuit is about restoring fairness to the market and ensuring that Americans have real choice in the news they watch.” For now, the battle lines are drawn, and the stakes—both financial and ideological—could hardly be higher.
As the case makes its way through the courts, the spotlight will remain firmly on the fierce competition, behind-the-scenes maneuvering, and high drama that have come to define the right-leaning news ecosystem in America.
