WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CN) - Fox News asked a judge on Friday to pull the plug on an antitrust lawsuit brought by competitor Newsmax that once again landed in Florida federal court.
"Newsmax is plainly unhappy that the news channel it launched in 2014 to offer 'right-leaning news' is not attracting more viewers," Fox News says in its motion to dismiss. "But Newsmax's complaints about how it should be doing better do not show any injury to competition, and the antitrust laws do not give Newsmax an avenue to blame Fox News for its frustrations with its own performance."
Newsmax first leveled monopoly accusations against Fox Corporation and Fox News Network in a September lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida. The right-wing cable news outlet referenced "no-carry" provisions and financial penalties if distributors carried the channel. The outlet said Fox blocked Newsmax from platforms like Fubo, Sling TV and Hulu.
These practices, Newsmax says, resulted in a smaller market share and lack of major advertisers.
U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, a Donald Trump appointee, dismissed the lawsuit as a "shotgun pleading," and the outlet chose not to amend its complaint. Instead, Newsmax refiled in Wisconsin federal court, claiming the same violations of the federal Sherman Act but also violations of the state's own antitrust law.
Two weeks ago, U.S. District Judge William Conley of the Western District of Wisconsin accused Newsmax of "forum shopping" and transferred the case back to the Southern District of Florida.
"Because plaintiff has failed to provide any explanation why this case should be tried in Wisconsin or why it dismissed the Florida action to refile here after receiving an adverse order, the court is left with the conclusion that plaintiff engaged in forum (or at least judge) shopping," Conley, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote.
On Friday, Fox reiterated its position that Newsmax cannot back up its monopoly claims, because the outlet never identifies any distributor that carries Fox News but not Newsmax.
"Even if Newsmax had identified distributors that refused to carry Newsmax (which it has not), being foreclosed from a particular distribution channel is not equivalent to being foreclosed from competition in the relevant market," Fox writes.
Fox attacked Newsmax's assertion that the two networks, along with One America News Network, should be grouped into one competitive market.
"The suggestion that channels like Fox News and Newsmax somehow compete in a self-contained 'right-leaning news' market bubble - immune from competition from other cable news channels like CNN and all of internet news - is implausible on its face," Fox writes, adding such a ruling by the court would violate the First Amendment.
"Defining a market based on whether speech is sufficiently 'right-leaning' would be a wholly unprecedented and impossibly nebulous task," Fox added.
In addition, Fox contends Newsmax has not shown any economic damages that directly correlate to its claims - just potential income from new advertising.
Newsmax did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News has long dominated the cable TV news market, though Newsmax has gained ground slowly since its 2014 foray into television. In 2025, the network based in Boca Raton, Florida, boasted 26 million quarterly viewers.
Two law firms specializing in antitrust litigation, Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel and Frederick, and Sperling Kenny Nachwalter, represent Newsmax. Tallahassee, Florida-based Continental and Torridon Law from D.C. represent Fox Corporation.
Source: Courthouse News Service
