Negotiations between Directv and the purveyor of Fake News and typical RW shithole, News Max, broke down on Tuesday resulting in the cable television provider to cancel the pro-TFG network.
While it appears this issue was “a typical cable package negotiation in an era of cord-cutting, shrinking subscription numbers, and reduced television revenues,” it will now “become yet another salvo in the ongoing culture wars and partisan gripes fueling American politics and cable news.”
“On multiple occasions, we made it clear to Newsmax that we wanted to continue to offer the network, but ultimately Newsmax’s demands for rate increases would have led to significantly higher costs that we would have to pass on to our broad customer base,” a DirecTV spokesperson told The Daily Beast shortly after midnight on Wednesday.
“Anyone, including our customers, can watch the network for free via NewsmaxTV.com, YouTube.com and on multiple streaming platforms like Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Google Play. We continually evaluate the most relevant programming to provide our customers and expect to fill this available channel with new content.”
Of course before getting officially cancelled, Newsmax issued the typical statement claiming perpetual victimization, engaging in whataboutisms, and comparing their ratings to other real news organizations.
“This is a blatant act of political discrimination and censorship against Newsmax,” Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax said.
“The most extreme liberal channels, even with tiny ratings, get fees from AT&T’s DirecTV, but Newsmax and OAN need to be deplatformed,” Ruddy added.
Last week, as news spread in Congress that AT&T DirecTV was moving to deplatform Newsmax, 41 Republican congressmen led by Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, sent a letter to the CEOs of AT&T, DirecTV, and hedge fund TPG Capital, the minority operator of the satellite system, warning of hearings.
