Newsmax’s 'sugar highs' haven’t lasted — whatever Fox News’ problems: report

2023 has been a chaotic year for Fox News, from a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems to the firing of Tucker Carlson in April. And the right-wing cable news channel is still facing a $2.7 billion lawsuit from Dominion competitor Smartmatic.

Fox News' problems have, at times, led to ratings surges for Newsmax, the bombastic cable news outlet that prides itself on being more right-wing, more MAGA and more pro-Donald Trump than Fox News and its sister channel Fox Business. But the Daily Beast's Justin Baragona, in a report published on December 28, emphasizes that those surges were merely "sugar highs" — and that its dreams of overtaking Fox News have never materialized.

"Just a few months ago," Baragona reports, "Newsmax was riding high. The MAGA network watched its ratings soar after disgruntled Fox News viewers ditched the conservative cable giant after it shockingly fired Tucker Carlson. Exploiting the MAGA rage against Fox over kicking its top right-wing star to the curb, Newsmax leaned even harder into its already over-the-top pro-Trump ethos, bluntly signaling to viewers that this was the channel to turn to for all their conservative comfort content needs."

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The reporter continues, "They even went so far as to not-so-subtly suggest that Carlson could potentially join their airwaves. The gambit worked — for a while."

Newsmax, Baragona explains, experienced a "sugar high" not only after Carlson's departure in 2023, but also, after the 2020 presidential election. The problem for Newsmax, according to the Daily Beast reporter, is that its ratings bounces don't last.

Moreover, Newsmax is still facing a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion, which alleges that it was defamed when Newsmax promoted the false, repeatedly debunked claim that its voting equipment was used to steal the 2020 election from Trump.

"Even if Newsmax can right the ship and continue to incrementally increase its market share," Baragona observes, "it may not matter. Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6-billion defamation lawsuit against the network goes to trial in September. And it is a fair assumption that the bottom-feeding MAGA channel doesn't have $787.5 million laying around to settle it."

READ MORE: Why Newsmax wants to drag a Greek Orthodox priest into Dominion defamation case

Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).