DIRECTV and Newsmax have jointly announced the end of their dispute. According to their press release, Newsmax will return to DIRECTV owned and operated platforms tomorrow, March 23.
This puts an end to two months of particularly bitter speculation about the reason the two companies stopped their working relationships at the end of January. While channel blackouts happen routinely and DIRECTV negotiates hundreds of carriage contracts every year, this one had garnered national attention because of Newsmax’s political leanings.
Was it really about politics?
DIRECTV has claimed all along that Newsmax’s contract offer didn’t make financial sense and that’s why the channel was removed from their lineup. When Newsmax was removed, DIRECTV put equally conservative network The First on in its place. This strongly implies that politics did not play a part in the decision. However, that has not stopped folks all the way up to the US Congress from threatening investigations over bias.
The truth is that DIRECTV is under no obligation to represent differing political views on its satellite service. No pay-TV provider has such an obligation. The only obligation is to the bottom line. If it makes sense to carry something, they’ll carry it. This has been the message all along as DIRECTV has chosen not to carry networks like The Blaze and OAN. Those networks simply didn’t represent a value for DIRECTV and that was that.
If you don’t like it, don’t watch it
In the end, it’s up to you. I understand that there are a lot of differing political viewpoints in this country. There are even disagreements on the basic nature of facts. This isn’t the right place to talk about that. What I can say is that both DIRECTV and DISH offer several different channels which call themselves news networks. If you are inclined to like what a channel says, watch it. If you do not, do not watch it. Both DIRECTV and DISH let you hide channels you’re not interested in. There’s no need to go further.
If there’s a content provider that isn’t on your choice of pay-TV service, you can contact them and request it. Or, you can look for it on the internet or over the air. There are a lot of choices today and you don’t have to pick just one.
What will become of “The First?”
It’s not clear as I write this what will become of “The First,” the channel DIRECTV placed in its lineup instead of Newsmax. I can guess, though, based on past events. When DIRECTV had a contract dispute with The Weather Channel, they brought in WeatherNation as a replacement. When The Weather Channel returned, they kept WeatherNation as well. I suspect that’s what will happen here. If you’ve grown fond of the programming on The First, I expect you’ll be able to keep watching it.
In the meantime, if the end of this dispute has inspired you to upgrade your satellite TV system, give the experts at Solid Signal a call. We’re here for you at 888-233-7563. Call during East Coast business hours. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below. We’ll get right back to you!
