|
 The network plans to hire more
staff in the United States and London, debut a
new primetime host and add more weekend
programming to capitalize on post-election gains
and some viewers' discontent with Rupert
Murdoch's longtime ratings king Fox News.
Aided by shout-outs from Trump on Twitter,
Newsmax's weekly primetime viewership has jumped
68% since the U.S. presidential election as the
channel refused to declare Joe Biden the winner
and aired debunked theories about voter fraud.
Early evening host Greg Kelly on Monday averaged
229,000 viewers ages 25 to 54, the group most
coveted by cable news advertisers, for the first
time beating Fox's Martha MacCallum, who brought
in 203,000 viewers in that age range at that
hour.
MacCallum, however, won in overall viewers, and
reclaimed her lead in both categories on
Tuesday, suggesting the Newsmax gains may be
fragile. Some key audience metrics have slipped
from Newsmax's post-election peaks. Primetime
viewership for the week that ended Dec. 4 was
down 21% from two weeks earlier, averaging
391,000 viewers, while its total day audience
fell 19%.
Fox News, which also has declined from
election-week highs, still averaged 2.9 million
primetime viewers that week, a sign of its
strength after almost 19 years as the
most-watched cable news channel.
The network had its highest-rated November in
history, drawing 3.9 million primetime viewers,
beating all cable networks, not just cable news.
Primetime host Tucker Carlson averaged 5 million
viewers for a second straight month, a record
for cable television.
Ruddy noted that, despite some dips, Newsmax is
hovering high above pre-election levels.
He sees the 40 million viewers not on cable as
the next battleground for growth. In addition to
cable news, the network streams for free on
platforms including YouTube and a Newsmax app,
which Ruddy said roughly doubles the nighttime
audience.
"People are really tired of Fox News," Ruddy
said in a recent interview. "There is a
perception that they really tried to torpedo the
president."
Fox News declined to comment.
Trump has complained about its coverage of his
presidency. The network further irked the
president and some viewers on election night
with a projection that Biden had won Arizona --
nine days before most major news organizations
confirmed that win.
"Newsmax, I think, has been gaining ground
against Fox News because it's been able to
convince some fraction of Fox's audience that it
is more loyal to the president than Fox is,"
said Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at liberal
media watchdog Media Matters for America.
One of Newsmax's latest displays of Trump
loyalty sparked a lawsuit. Former U.S.
cybersecurity official Christopher Krebs sued
Trump lawyer Joseph diGenova, Newsmax and the
Trump campaign after diGenova said Krebs should
be "taken out at dawn and shot" after Krebs
disputed Trump's claims of election fraud.
[to top of second column]
|
 Newsmax said that while
diGenova made "inappropriate" comments, Krebs’
lawsuit threatened free speech.
"HIRING SPLURGE"
It is unclear whether Newsmax's surge is
sustainable over a longer term after Trump
leaves office.
Available in roughly 70 million cable TV homes,
Newsmax is on a "hiring splurge," Ruddy said.
The network has added 25 employees since the
election to bring its total workforce to 275. It
plans to hire 30 more over the next three
months, including one in London and another in
Los Angeles. Newsmax, which is
based in Florida, also plans to hire staff for a
bureau in the state, home to both Trump and his
Mar-a-Lago resort. Most of Newsmax's current 165
television staff are based in New York. Fox News
has hundreds of journalists based in 10 U.S.
bureaus and three international bureaus.
This month, Newsmax will launch a 10 p.m. ET
(0300 GMT) program hosted by Rob Schmitt, a
former early morning Fox News host.
Ruddy said he is currently considering various
offers to invest in the channel but shot down
media reports that the network was for sale.
Trump, meanwhile, is debating where to take his
megaphone after he leaves office on Jan. 20. The
president is considering starting a TV channel
or social media company, according to several
advisers.
A longtime friend of Trump's, Ruddy said he does not want
to turn Newsmax into Trump TV, though he said he
has told the president he would welcome him as a
regular contributor or show host.
BATTLING FOX
Fox's more recent challengers on the right
remain independent networks like Newsmax and One
America News Network (OAN), rather than major
media conglomerates, because large players view
the conservative media business as too risky,
said Christopher Balfe, partner at media firm
Red Seat Ventures, which advises on new media
startups.
"None of (the independents) have deep enough pockets from
a resource perspective to be truly competitive,"
Balfe said.
 Fox spent $1 billion before Fox News became
profitable, Fox Corp Chief Financial Officer
Steve Tomsic said this week.
"It’s not a small undertaking to try to compete
at that level," Tomsic said at a UBS conference.
"When people think about competition, their
knee-jerk reaction is to think 'Well, all we
need is two or three talking heads to go head to
head with ours.' The business is much bigger
than that."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles and
Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Kenneth Li
and Lisa Shumaker)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
