Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Newsmax accuses Fox of anticompetitive tactics, (Sep 4, 2025)

By Thomas K. Lauletta, J.D.

The complaint alleges Fox violated federal and Florida antitrust laws by monopolizing “right-leaning” pay TV news.

Newsmax Broadcasting is suing Fox Corporation for its alleged anticompetitive conduct under federal and Florida statutes that harmed Newsmax, and other “right-leaning” pay TV news providers. Specifically, Newsmax’s complaint, filed in the federal district court in Miami, alleges that Fox violated the Sherman Act, the Florida Antitrust Act, and the Florida Deceptive & Unfair Trade Practices Act (NewsMax Broadcasting, LLC v. Fox Corp., No. 9:25-cv-81091-AMC (S.D. Fla. Sept. 3, 2025)).

Newsmax’s complaint alleges that the “Fox Corporation has long engaged in an exclusionary scheme to increase and maintain its dominance in the market for U.S. right-leaning pay TV news, resulting in suppression of competition in that market that harms consumers, competition, and Newsmax.”

According to Newsmax, Fox uses tactics that constitute unlawful restraints of trade that directly flow from Fox’s unlawful monopolization of the right-leaning pay TV news market. “First, Fox imposes explicit or tacit “no-carry” provisions on distributors, conditioning access to its commercially critical content on distributors’ concession not to carry other right-leaning news channels like Newsmax and others. Second, it imposes financial penalties on distributors if they carry Newsmax or others by requiring the distributors to carry and pay high fees for Fox’s little-watched channels like Fox Business. Third, Fox inserts . . . other contractual barriers into its carriage agreements intended to prevent Newsmax and others from competing.”

The complaint alleges that but for Fox’s anticompetitive behavior Newsmax would have achieved greater TV distribution, TV audiences and advertisers and become a more valuable media property.

Fox’s dominance in the right-leaning pay TV news market. The complaint offered facts to show that the Fox Corporation wielded monopolistic power. Fox News generates the majority of Fox’s profits: 70 percent of its pre-tax profits in 2023. For decades Fox News has been the highest rated cable news channel in the United States, controlling the majority of advertising revenue. According to Newsmax, this gives Fox exceptional negotiating leverage over cable distributors.

Fox’s monopoly power. The complaint alleges that Fox has sought to protect and expand its monopoly power in the right-leaning pay TV new market by the use of anticompetitive behaviors. Allegedly, “Fox uses the leverage created by its control of “must have” conservative news content on Fox News to coerce distributors into unfair terms that either prevent those distributors from carrying competitors of Fox News, including Newsmax, or impose financial penalties on them for doing so, ultimately increasing prices for consumers.”

The complaint alleges that in negotiations with distributors such as DISH, DirecTV and Optimum, Fox threatened to deny distributors Fox Sports coverage just before in-demand events such as the Super Bowl and baseball playoffs.

Newsmax also alleges that Fox exploits its market power in the right-leaning pay TV market “by conditioning carriage agreements on the distributor’s agreement not to carry any right-leaning news channel, including Newsmax, that directly competes with Fox News.”

Fox’s continuing violations. The complaint alleges that because of Fox’s conduct, Newsmax has suffered competitive injury to its pay TV distribution, audience and ratings growth, advertising and marketing revenues, and increasing its costs. The anticompetitive conduct has harmed not only Newsmax and other competitors but also consumers and competition itself. Newsmax alleges that it “continues to suffer new and accumulating injury, including lost carriage fees, diminished brand exposure, and foregone advertising sales, each time Fox enforces or extends its exclusionary terms or abuses its monopoly power to foreclose competition” in the right-leaning pay TV news market.

Specific claims alleged. The first cause of action alleges unreasonable restraint of trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Newsmax alleges that as a result of Fox’s exclusionary agreements, Newsmax suffers injury caused by Fox’s anticompetitive agreements. In this regard, beginning in 2019 Fox entered into a series of carriage agreements with major Multichannel Video Programing Distributors (“MVPDs”) and Virtual Multichannel Video Programing Distributors (vMVPDs”) “that penalize or prohibit those entities from carrying other right-leaning pay TV news channels like Newsmax.”

The second cause of action is for maintaining a monopoly of the right-leaning pay TV new market in violation of the Sherman Act, Section 2. The complaint alleges that “Fox has willfully and unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the right-leaning pay TV news market through an exclusionary course of conduct and anticompetitive acts, including arrangements that condition access to other Fox programming on the carriage of Fox News.” Each of these actions increased, maintained or protected its monopoly in the right-leaning pay TV market.

The third and fourth causes of action allege violations of the Florida Antitrust Act, mirroring the Sherman Act claims.

The fifth cause of action alleges violation of the Florida Deceptive & Unfair Trade Practices Act, which generally prohibits “unfair methods of competition, unconscionable acts or practices, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce,” including practices in restraint of trade. Fla. Stat. § 501.204(1). Newsmax alleges that “Fox maintained a monopoly of trade and commerce in the market for right-leaning pay TV news, for the purpose of excluding competition or controlling, fixing or maintaining prices in Florida at a level higher than the competitive market level. Accordingly, Fox’s conduct was an unfair method of competition, and an unfair or deceptive act or practice within the conduct of commerce within the State of Florida.”

Relief requested. Newsmax requests declaratory and injunctive relief, treble damages, attorney fees, and also demands a jury trial under Federal Rule 38(b).

The Case is No. 9:25-cv-81091-AMC.

Judge: Cannon, A.

Attorneys: Samuel Randall (Sperling Kenny Nachwalter, LLC) for NewsMax Broadcasting, LLC.

Companies: NewsMax Broadcasting, LLC; Fox Corp.

News: Antitrust FloridaNews