DirecTV says it would welcome back Newsmax under the right terms

DirecTV says it is disappointed that it no longer carries Newsmax and that its rift with Newsmax stemmed from a financial spat, rejecting claims it dropped the conservative news outlet for political reasons.

“Our differences with Newsmax are economic, not political or ideological,” the video programming distributor said in a statement posted to its website. “Newsmax made unreasonable demands that would force DIRECTV customers to fund the network’s shift from a free nationwide streaming service to one that will require a pay TV subscription. Since we would not agree to Newsmax’s demand to pay them tens of millions of dollars in licensing fees, DIRECTV was no longer permitted by Newsmax to air its content.”

The decision to drop Newsmax on Jan. 24 sparked a furor among conservatives. Newsmax went dark after DirecTV dropped another right-wing channel, One America News Network (OANN), in early 2022, and Republicans are generally concerned about the censorship of conservative views.

Senate Republicans who are unsatisfied with DirecTV’s decision have demanded documents from DirecTV and its parent companies by Feb. 15. They want to know if any government official pressured them to drop the channel and if left-of-center networks have received more favorable treatment.

DirecTV said it is “disappointed by Newsmax’s position” and would welcome it back.