A federal judge overseeing an antitrust case brought by Newsmax against Fox News has dismissed the matter less than a week after it was brought to court.
In a two-page order issued early Friday morning, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said Newsmax submitted a “shotgun pleading,” where a plaintiff alleges numerous violations of the law through a single set of actions.
Those pleadings are illegal in the 11th Circuit, where Newsmax filed its complaint. The cable news channel is based in Florida.
In the order, Aileen said Newsmax will have an opportunity to refile its complaint with certain amendments if it wants the antitrust matter to go forward. The case was terminated without prejudice, meaning Newsmax can seek to have a new case brought against Newsmax on the same allegations.
In its original complaint, Newsmax alleged Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation, engaged in illegal practices to suppress competition in the cable news space.
Among other things, Newsmax said Fox charges exorbitant fees to carry Fox News, which financially disincentivizes cable and satellite platforms from carrying Newsmax and other channels. Newsmax also accused Fox of suppressing competition by including “no-carry” provisions that discouraged cable and satellite companies from offering other channels, even if they could afford to do so.
Newsmax said Fox’s alleged anticompetitive practices were among the reasons why the channel struggled to gain carriage on some platforms, including Google-owned YouTube TV and Disney’s Hulu with Live TV. Newsmax is now available on both streaming services.
“Fox has sought to protect and expand its monopoly power in the right-leaning pay TV news market by engaging in a suite of anticompetitive behaviors,” Newsmax said in its original complaint. “Fox’s unlawful and exclusionary conduct has harmed not just Newsmax and other competitors, but also consumers and competition itself.”
For years, cable and satellite operators have opted to carry Newsmax only after engaging in distribution disputes with Fox over fees. During those disputes, Fox News and other Fox-owned channels were unavailable to subscribers for a short time, and Newsmax was offered as an alternative to those who wanted news programming with right-of-center political commentary.
Christopher Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax, said Fox has long benefitted from “exclusionary contracts and intimidation tactics for years” that benefitted its network and suppressed competition for rival outlets.
“Those days are over,” Ruddy proclaimed. “This lawsuit is about restoring fairness to the market and ensuring that Americans have real choice in the news they watch.”
A spokesperson for Fox News Media told The Desk by e-mail that the lawsuit has no merit.
“Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can’t attract viewers,” the Fox News spokesperson said.
