This is the second entry in the burgeoning battle of right-wing news outlets, with Newsmax initially filing a similar, but now dismissed, complaint against Fox News in Florida last week.
MILWAUKEE (CN) -- Right-wing outlet Newsmax Broadcasting on Friday brought a friendly-fire antitrust lawsuit against the Fox News Network, claiming it suppresses competition by squeezing distributors.
"Fox's longstanding and ongoing practices have harmed and will further harm, competition and consumers in the United States," Newsmax says in its 44-page complaint filed in Wisconsin federal court.
Newsmax names Fox Corporation and the Fox News Network as defendants, blaming the larger outlet for its smaller share of the market.
Newsmax claims that the popularity of the Fox News channel gives the Fox Corporation immense power, which it leverages to impose onerous demands on distributors of its content such as cable TV and streaming services.
Newsmax was founded in 1998 by journalist Christopher Ruddy and boasts itself as a champion of free press, working to provide "balanced coverage, diverse viewpoints and honest debates."
The network claims on its website it reaches more than 40 million Americans, but says it can't compete with Fox News, which has become a household name analogous with right-leaning ideas and issues, and is widely known to have unique access to President Donald Trump and his political allies.
Newsmax identifies in its complaint three interconnected anticompetitive strategies it claims Fox deploys: imposing non-compete provisions on distributors so they cannot carry competitors; imposing financial penalties on distributors if they choose to carry Newsmax or others; and hiding contractual barriers into its carriage agreements intended to prevent Newsmax from competing.
"Newsmax is far from the only victim," the broadcaster writes in its complaint. "Defendants' anticompetitive conduct impedes competition in the entire right-leaning pay TV news market, deprives consumers of genuine choice, and increases the cost consumers must bear to access right-leaning news."
The network claims that if not for Fox's anticompetitive behavior, Newsmax's audience would have grown quicker and its value as a media property increased faster.
Newsmax filed a similar lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida earlier in September, but almost immediately voluntarily dismissed it as a "shotgun pleading" -- meaning it lists multiple counts against the defendant which are overlapping in fact.
Newsmax claims in both suits that Fox effectively blocked it from streaming platforms like Fubo, Sling TV and Hulu. It also says that it had a contract with Fubo until Fox took an interest and pushed it out.
Newsmax also claims that streaming distributors have privately complained about Fox's restrictive contracts that specifically target competitors in the right-leaning news market.
In response to the Florida suit, a Fox News Spokesperson characterized the lawsuit as an attempt to put Newsmax on the map.
"Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can't attract viewers," the spokesperson said in a statement then.
Beyond purportedly sneaky contracting and financial leverage, Newsmax accuses Fox of hiring law firms and private detectives to investigate Newsmax executives. The network cites a prior sexual harassment and surveillance lawsuit filed by a former Fox News host.
The complainant in that suit, Newsmax says, disclosed a conversation she had with a Fox commentator in which he said that Fox News was concerned about Newsmax's growth and that it was a threat to the network. There are no mentions of Newsmax in that complaint.
In it's Friday complaint, Newsmax asked the court for three times the amount of damages it sustained, as well as a declaration that Fox violated the Sherman and the Wisconsin Antitrust Act by blocking Newsmax from selling its content to key distributors.
Neither Newsmax nor Fox Corporation could be immediately reached for comment.