Newsmax Blackout Faces Outcry; DirecTV Adds The First
DirecTV's dropping of Newsmax this week (see 301250042) is getting conservative criticism. A Donald Trump Jr. tweet Wednesday urged a boycott of DirecTV majority owner AT&T. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., tweeted that dropping Newsmax "is a mistake" and said Rep.…
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Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, "is working to reverse this." Rep Mary Miller, R-Ill., tweeted "AT&T and DirecTV are engaging in partisan politics by banning Newsmax for challenging the Biden Administration & broadcasting President Trump's rallies. This is the totalitarian Left in action!" National Religious Broadcasters CEO Troy Miller said Thursday that DirecTV said economics rather than ideology drove its decision, but "the question of why low-rated, left-leaning networks like MSNBC and CNN receive retransmission fees and remain on the platform needs to be answered. DirecTV serves a sizeable subscriber base that skews conservative and religious. This viewership deserves access to diverse programming, including options aligned with their points of view." DirecTV said Thursday it's adding conservative commentary network The First. Newsmax in a statement called it "a pathetic attempt to deal with millions of angry viewers. You can’t replace a Cadillac with a Honda."