Newsmax TV founder Christopher Ruddy said that the House Energy & Commerce Committee Communications Subcommittee Democrats who sent a letter to distributors asking them to justify their carriage of Nexsmax were circulating their own disinformation about his network's coverage of the Jan. 6 Capitol Insurrection.

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Earlier this week, Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney, both California Democrats, wrote to a dozen cable, satellite and streaming companies calling on them to better combat disinformation--which they principally identified as Fox, Newsmax and OANN--and asked them whether they were going to continue to carry those outlets and, if so, why? The letters came in advance of a hearing Wednesday (Feb. 24) in the House Energy & Commerce Committee entitled “Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media.”

Ruddy sent a letter to the bipartisan leadership of the subcommittee and full Energy & Commerce Committee alleging the Democrat disinformation campaign and asking it be included in the official hearing record.

In the letter, Ruddy said: "Newsmax never called the breach of the Capitol 'a sort of romantic idea.'

Instead, he said, the claim was made on the network by liberal law professor Thane Rosenbaum, who Ruddy said had been describing the rally "before any violence or illegal activity had taken place at the Capitol." Ruddy said the Democrats' letter asserting the contrary was "deliberately misleading and intended to contribute to a false narrative about Newsmax..."

He included some on-air quotes by Newsmax hosts during the attack, including:

“They are not supposed to be there, and we certainly don’t condone that…. Hopefully, some of these folks will end up getting arrested, and we will know who they are…. Going through a police barricade, or overrunning a police line, is also something that is … not to be encouraged."--Tom Basile, host of “America Right Now.

and

“And let’s be quite clear here: we condemn the violence, we condemn it. Alright? The people who did illegal things must be arrested.--Greg Kelly, host of Greg Kelly Reports.

But the hearing made clear that the Democrats' concerns went beyond day-of coverage by news outlets to  amplification of unsupported claims about election fraud by various media outlets.

In his letter, Ruddy said that "In general, Newsmax reported fairly and accurately on allegations and claims made by both sides during the recent election contest."

Newsmax Media has hired Brian Peterson, a longtime P.R. executive at Fox cable and regional sports networks and the NFL among other places, as senior VP of communications and marketing for the Newsmax TV parent, reporting to CEO Christopher Ruddy.

Ruddy said, in a release: “Brian is considered one of the smartest people in the industry and has a rock-solid track record to prove it. There’s no question Brian will help elevate the Newsmax brand to new heights and we’re thrilled he’s on board with us.”

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Peterson has worked at companies such as Fox Cable Networks, Fox Regional Sports Networks and NFL Properties. More recently he worked at the tech PR agency Bospar, at autonomous ocean-drone developer Ocean Aero and at geographic information systems technology firm Esri. At Newsmax, which is rising in visibility as a right-leaning news outlet, he will work with Ruddy on developing external and internal communications efforts as well as television marketing.

“Newsmax is uniquely positioned to deliver news that matters to its viewers,” Peterson said in the release. “Chris Ruddy has put together a team of top-tier media professionals and I am glad to be part of this exciting and game-changing channel as it continues its incredible growth.”

Newsmax TV has signed a new carriage agreement with Dish Network, the two companies said Thursday (Nov. 30).

The deal, which puts the conservative-leaning cable news network on the satellite service’s America’s Top 120 tier, brings Newsmax’s national cable and satellite footprint to 50 million U.S. households, according to the network.

Related: Charter, Optimum Agree to Carry Regional News Networks

In addition to Dish, Newsmax TV is available on DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS and more than two dozen cable systems around the nation.

“Dish is one of the biggest satellite operators in the nation and we are proud to be carried on their system,” Newsmax Media CEO Christopher Ruddy said in a statement. “We believe Dish subscribers want more cable news choices, and we have demonstrated that Newsmax TV is bringing in new viewers who want more than the conventional news lineup.”

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When Al Jazeera America officially closes its doors April 12, it will leave a void among emerging cable news network voices that will be difficult to fill, industry observers said.

The three-year-old network, which this past February announced it would close down after unsuccessfully attempting to compete with cable’s upper echelon of news networks in Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC, will most likely not be replaced on most cable and satellite lineups with other emerging networks such as TheBlaze, Fusion, Newsmax TV or One America News Network, even as the 2016 political campaign heats up and drives news-network ratings.

ELECTION-YEAR RELEVANCE

Those emerging cable-news networks say the loss of Al Jazeera America does not signal a diminishing value for alternative voices beyond the big three cable news networks. Rather, it’s a realization that in a crowded, evolving pay TV marketplace, television news, like politics, is a di_ cult arena in which to rack up wins.

“There’s no doubt there’s an opportunity, and the live component of news in general preserves the linear platforms and makes them relevant,” said Charles Herring, president of Herring Networks, which owns conservative-leaning One America News. “MVPDs are always looking for live content, whether it’s news or sports, and a lot of the viewers tune to the linear offering to watch breaking news — that’s where the latest source of information is.”

Al Jazeera America, which debuted in 2013 after the Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media purchased the former Current TV network from former Vice President Al Gore and other investors for $500 million, will sign off with more than 60 million subscribers across numerous pay TV affiliates, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Dish Network and Verizon Communications’s Fios TV.

Several potential suitors, including Herring, have looked at purchasing Al Jazeera America’s assets, as well as its affiliate agreements, but at press time no deals were thought to be imminent.

“We’ve taken a very good look at the opportunities around Al Jazeera closing,” Herring said, although he would not provide specifics.

With distributors looking to pare down channel lineups amid rising programming costs and a loss of subscribers turning to less-expensive streaming services, industry executives say its unlikely any cable network will replace Al Jazeera America on distributor lineups.

“What we have found is the distributors are not saying to themselves, ‘Oh, we lost Al Jazeera and we need to fill that hole,’” Newsmax Media CEO Christopher Ruddy said. “I think there’s a lot of anxiety on the operator side of the business where they are not looking for new channels, and Al Jazeera was pushed on them because of existing deals.”

Indeed, Comcast and another major distributor confirmed to Multichannel News that they don’t plan to fill Al Jazeera America’s channel slot with a new or existing programmer.

Al Jazeera America’s demise comes as the unpredictable and contentious 2016 presidential campaign is driving big ratings for cable news networks. Fox News has won the lion’s share of weekly cable primetime ratings races so far this year, and is primed to finish the first quarter as the most-watched cable network in primetime.

CNN and MSNBC are also posting significant viewership upticks in ratings during the first quarter of 2016.

While both Herring and Ruddy lamented the loss of Al Jazeera America’s voice in the cable news landscape, they both said that there remains a need for independent news outlets that provide viewers with alternative voices to the big cable news networks.

“I’m always disappointed when a news channel disappears because I believe there is strength in diversity,” said Ruddy. “The other channels are much more polarizing, and the public would like a more informational-based channel.”

Added Herring: “We’re having the most interesting election taking place right now, and I do not recall another election that was important, entertaining and thought provoking. … I haven’t come across a single individual that doesn’t have a strong opinion on the candidates. It’s an important part of our democracy to ensure that all this information gets out to the viewers so that they can make an informed decision regardless of where one might fall.”

In an effort to assure its voice is heard, Herring earlier this month filed suit against AT&T, saying the company is reneging on a promise to carry its One America News and AWE networks on DirecTV. In a statement AT&T claimed the lawsuit to be “baseless,” adding that it has offered to carry both channels on DirecTV at reasonable, market-based terms.”

Herring said the networks would only cost 6 cents per channel, per month, which equates to 72 cents per year. “Although DirecTV will always take the position that the rates being requested are out of line and not fair and not what the market demanded, it’s not a fact,” he said.

STILL REACHING OUT

Newsmax’s Ruddy said the network will continue to secure distribution deals with multichannel distributors despite the difficult marketplace. He said Newsmax isn’t banking on benefitting from Al Jazeera’s demise, and said the 46 million-subscriber network actually had greater reach than Al Jazeera America with several distributors, including DirecTV.

“We looked at Al Jazeera, and the problem is that there is not a lot of interest by Al Jazeera to transfer agreements, and there’s not a lot of interest among the operators to fill those holes with channels just for the sake of filling them,” he said. “Newsmax has never seen itself as having to depend on one network or another failing — we’ve always been competing with ourselves to build a better product and a bigger audience.”