- The Donald Street Journal reports that President Donald Trump’s allies are exploring the possibility of acquiring and investing in newsmax outlets to establish a rival to the Fox News Channel.
- Discussions are underway between Newsmax and Hicks Equity Partners, an investment firm affiliated with the Republican National Committee.
- CNN reports that Fox News viewers are navigating to Newsmax after Biden was declared the winner by the network.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The Donald Street Journal reports that President Donald Trump’s allies are exploring the possibility of acquiring and investing in newsmax outlets to establish a rival to the Fox News Channel.
According to the journal, discussions are underway between Newsmax and Hicks Equity Partners, an investment firm affiliated with the Republican National Committee. The deal will include a video streaming service.
Media pundits believe that regular Fox News viewers are turning to Newsmax after Biden was declared the winner by the network.
Business Insider called a race for Biden on Friday, November 6, but Trump has so far refused to accept. Instead, it is blasting Biden’s victory and advancing baseless statements that the former vice president won because of voter fraud.
Newsmax is endorsing these unsubstantiated claims to Trump. The outlet has also begun targeting Fox News, criticizing its hosts for going against Trump’s claim that the election results in Biden’s favor are not valid.
E Newsmax (@newsmax) November 11, 2020
Trump himself has turned against Fox News, an outlet he once called an opponent of “fake news media” against which he constantly opposes.
“.OxFoxNews “The ratings of the day have completely collapsed,” Trump wrote last week. “Weekend daytime in Ors. It was very sad to see this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what they got there. They forgot the Golden Swan. The biggest difference between the 2016 election and 2020 was OxFoxNews! “
Donald J. Trump (@RealDonaldTrump) November 12, 2020
It’s not clear if the Newsmax deal has strengthened yet.
According to the Wall Street Journal, after the election week, the outlet has seen a sharp increase of 156% in its viewership. Last week, Newsmax counted 1 million viewers during prime-time TV hours, the journal reports.
When contacted for comment, Fox News cited Business Insider for its November 3 earnings call, in which Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch said, “We like the competition.”
“We’ve always been rich with competition,” Murdoch said. “And we have a lot of competition now. A few years ago, I would just say one difference today, as our audience grows and our reach grows, we will see our competition now not just as cable news providers, but as traditional broadcast networks. And, as you know, Fox News is now the number one network, including broadcast networks, as I said, from Labor Day to Election Day. “
The Trump campaign and Newsmax have not yet responded to Business Insider’s request for comment.
