DirecTV told Senate Republicans on Thursday that Newsmax continues to lie about the network’s ratings as part of its political pressure campaign to force the pay-TV provider to dish out millions of dollars to the pro-Trump channel.
Besides peddling “misleading” claims about its viewership, the satellite carrier also said that Newsmax is pushing false information about the license fees DirecTV pays to other channels, noting that many networks Newsmax claims are getting paid by the company receive no carriage fees.
DirecTV also revealed that once upon a time, Newsmax actually paid the cable provider fees to carry its channel and was dropped from the service in 2016 for eight months when it tried to negotiate a new deal. However, as DirecTV noted, they are “not aware of any Member of Congress or conservative activist at that time accusing DIRECTV of censoring or de-platforming Newsmax” during that specific contract dispute.
DirecTV, which is owned primarily by telecommunications giant AT&T, pulled Newsmax from its service in late January over what it has described as a standard business dispute over increased rates. Newsmax, meanwhile, has accused the satellite carrier of “political discrimination” and “silencing” conservative voices by “de-platforming” the network. The channel also claims that DirecTV is paying “22 liberal news channels,” many of whom draw lower ratings than Newsmax, while refusing to agree to the right-wing network’s modest fee request.
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