Fox Says Newsmax Antitrust Suit is Sour Grapes
Newsmax "is plainly unhappy" that it's not more successful, but its antitrust complaint blames Fox News "for its frustrations with its own performance," Fox told the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in a motion to dismiss filed Tuesday (docket 3:25-cv-00770). Newsmax sued Fox in September, alleging Sherman Act and Wisconsin Antitrust Act violations by Fox as it used its market power to "coerce distributors into not carrying or into marginalizing other right-leaning news channels, including Newsmax." The suit is Newsmax's second antitrust complaint against Fox. A previous version was dismissed in September for procedural errors (see 2509050007).
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In its motion to dismiss, Fox criticized Newsmax's market definition. It said the idea "that channels like Fox News and Newsmax somehow compete in a self-contained 'right-leaning news' market bubble -- immune from competition from other cable news channels like CNN and all of Internet news -- is implausible on its face." Fox said Newsmax also hasn't plausibly shown that there are any agreements banning distributors from carrying Newsmax.