Newsmax is back on DirecTV
you guys are weird
Well, would you check here: Newsmax TV is back on DirecTV after all. Turns out all those mud fights were just posturing and negotiating, just like we said. How silly.
Newsmax TV will return to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse on its former home, Channel 349, on Thursday. The financial terms of the contract of carriage were not disclosed, but DirecTV said it is not passing on any additional costs to its customers. DirecTV launched NewsMax on Jan. 25 when they couldn’t agree on an extension of their carriage deal. That led to an epic fight in which Newsmax accused DirecTV of anti-Semitism.
The business dispute escalated into a back-and-forth between leaders of the Jewish community, including Alan Dershowitz and Senator Joseph Lieberman. First Bryan Leib (self-described “Newsmax Insider”) assembled a team of “two dozen prominent Jews” to sign a letter to DirecTV expressing “serious concerns” about Newsmax’s removal.
The letter, made available to the Jewish News Syndicate, said: “As leaders in our community, we represent millions of Jewish Americans. Newsmax has been a critical way for us to reach our fellow Americans to share our views on anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, the State of Israel and other issues important to our community.”
In response, DirecTV brought together its own Jewish community leaders, including five rabbis, to sign a retaliatory letter, some of which reminded everyone that it was spreading the Jewish Broadcasting Service. Read this letter here.
Well, everyone sings a very different tune today. Ah, harmony.
“Newsmax recognizes and appreciates that DirecTV clearly supports diverse voices, including conservative ones,” Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said Wednesday as part of the parties’ joint announcement. “As a standalone company, DirecTV helped get Newsmax started almost a decade ago, as it continues to do with emerging news channels. As such, we are excited to enter into a mutually beneficial agreement that will extend our network to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and and U-verse customers for years to come.”
OK Chris, whatever you say.
“This solution with Newsmax, which resolves an all-too-common promotions dispute, underscores our commitment to providing our customers with a broad range of programs and perspectives,” added Bill Morrow, CEO of DirecTV. “Through our persistent negotiations, we have reached a solution on amicable terms that allows us to deliver the conservative news network at the right price – a reflection of the work of the free market.”
As we previously reported, Newsmax TV’s successor, the also right-wing The First, will stay with DirecTV. The First was double-programmed on old Newsmax TV channels 349 and 347. It will remain in 347.
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https://www.indiewire.com/2023/03/newsmax-back-on-directv-1234821697/ Newsmax is back on DirecTV
