DIRECTV Open to Bringing NewsMax Back, Without Threat of ‘Tens of Millions of Dollars’ in Licensing Fees
When DIRECTV announced that is was removing NewsMax from its lineup of channels for both satellite and DIRECTV STREAM customers, many from the conservative community took aim against the company, believing that the decision was made due to bias against the controversial network. Some went as far as to call the move an “attack on free speech.”
DIRECTV has maintained throughout that the removal was a business decision, and not motivated by politics in anyway. Just two days after NewsMax left the service, DIRECTV and DIRECTV STREAM added The First, another conservative news channel to their platforms, presumably in an effort to show critics the company’s commitment to a diversity of perspectives.
On Sunday, the company went a step further in issuing a statement on the situation, going as far as to say that it would be interested in bringing NewsMax back to the service.
“Our differences with Newsmax are economic, not political or ideological,” the company said. “Newsmax made unreasonable demands that would force DIRECTV customers to fund the network’s shift from a free nationwide streaming service to one that will require a pay TV subscription. Since we would not agree to Newsmax’s demand to pay them tens of millions of dollars in licensing fees, DIRECTV was no longer permitted by Newsmax to air its content.”
DIRECTV’s alleged refusal to pay the new carriage fees that NewsMax was demanding makes sense in the larger context of what has happened recently with the carrier. On the streaming side, DIRECTV STREAM increased its subscription fees in January to a floor of $74.99 per month. In having to pay additional money NewsMax, DIRECTV would undoubtedly have to pass those new fees onto customers, driving the price of the service up again.
However, another rate increase could be severely damaging to the streamer’s ability to retain customers as it already has the highest base subscription fee amongst live TV streaming services. This is why DIRECTV STREAM — like many other live streamers —has been adding free ad-supported streaming TV channels to its offerings lately. These channels generally come with little or no carriage fee and result in a revenue split between the streaming service and the content provider, making them very attractive to DIRECTV STREAM and its competitors.
This is why the TV provider appears to be more than willing to welcome NewsMax back to its services, assuming it is financially beneficial.
“DIRECTV is disappointed by Newsmax’s position,” the company said. “We prefer Newsmax had never left and remain interested in bringing Newsmax back under the right financial terms.”
Viewers are still able to stream NewsMax programming for free on the networks’ website, but there is still hope that the channel will return to DIRECTV and DIRECTV STREAM at some point in the future.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is a live TV streaming service, which is essentially the streaming version of the DIRECTV service. All packages include local channels and at least 31 of the top 35 cable channels. New subscribers can get a free Gemini streaming device from the company, in which case the service is called “DIRECTV via Internet.”