Newsmax

Newsmax, Inc. (or Newsmax.com, previously styled NewsMax) is an American cable news, political opinion commentary, and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy in 1998. It has been variously described as conservative, right-wing, and far-right. Newsmax Media divisions include its cable and broadcast channel Newsmax TV; its website Newsmax.com, which includes Newsmax Health and Newsmax Finance; and Newsmax magazine, its monthly print publication. The company went public in March 2025.

Newsmax launched Newsmax TV in June 2014 to 35 million satellite subscribers through DirecTV and Dish Network. As of May 2019, the network claimed to reach about 70 million households via cable television. The average weekly audience for Newsmax TV was 319,000 people, as of April 2025. The channel primarily broadcasts from Newsmax's New York studio on Manhattan's East Side, with two headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, and Washington, D.C. Newsmax began broadcasting in the UK in October 2023, via Freeview Connect.

The website has been described by The New York Times as a "potent force in conservative politics". Ruddy has attempted to position the network as a competitor to Fox News, including by hiring former Fox News hosts Rob Schmitt, Greg Kelly, Bob Sellers, and Heather Childers. The Washington Post described Newsmax as "a landing spot for cable news personalities in need of a new home", citing the network's airing of Mark Halperin and Bill O'Reilly following their resignations from other networks due to sexual harassment allegations.

After the 2020 United States presidential election, Newsmax broadcast numerous conspiracy theories made by President Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and a Newsmax host, which alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election. When asked about Newsmax's support of former President Trump, Ruddy stated, "We have an editorial policy of being supportive of the president and his policies". A month after the election, Newsmax began recognizing Joe Biden as duly elected president. In 2021, Newsmax issued an apology and retracted its voter fraud conspiracy allegations.

In 2021, Newsmax was sued by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for promoting false claims that the companies had engaged in election fraud during the 2020 presidential election. Newsmax settled Smartmatic's lawsuit in September 2024 by agreeing to pay Smartmatic $40 million. A judge ruled in April 2025 that Newsmax broadcast false and defamatory statements against Dominion about the election. DirecTV dropped Newsmax from its lineup in January 2023, after the companies failed to agree on contract terms. In response, 42 House Republicans signed a letter to DirecTV executives attacking the removal as an act of "suppressing politically disfavored speech". The two companies resolved their dispute and DirecTV resumed broadcasting Newsmax in March 2023.