Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said Wednesday night the news network experienced an unheard-of ratings jump during the third quarter of 2023 — up 73% across its prime-time programming compared to the same time period last year.
Appearing Wednesday on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Ruddy noted, while Newsmax's ratings boom has come at the expense of Fox News, he praised its controlling shareholder Rupert Murdoch as a "great conservative."
Host Rob Schmitt led the segment touting the latest Nielsen numbers showing year-over-year ratings growth that knocked all other major news networks out of the park this quarter.
"Those are huge numbers," Ruddy said of Newsmax's 73% gain in prime-time viewers and significant increases across all day parts.
"Usually, if a TV channel goes up 10-15%, that's cause for Champagne bottles to open," he said. "This is just incredible, and it's across the network."
By contrast, Fox News experienced an 18% drop this quarter in prime time, with nearly 20% drops across most day parts.
CNN fell 12% with MSNBC down 1%, according to the Nielsen ratings.
Ruddy attributed the meteoric rise of his network to viewers "voting" with their remote control for independent media over corporate giants.
It is a trend he says will continue for quite some time.
"When Tucker Carlson was fired, we saw a big surge back early this year in April," Ruddy told Schmitt.
"Five months later, we're now going to the six months, those ratings are sticking."
"They're not disappearing, and we're getting a huge share of the Fox audience," he added.
Asked about former President Donald Trump's statement Wednesday calling Rupert Murdoch a "globalist," Ruddy said he a "high opinion" of Fox's founder.
"Full disclosure: I once worked for Rupert Murdoch in my earlier days in journalism," Ruddy said. "The man has made an enormous contribution to the cause of freedom not only in the U.S. but around the world."
"His newspapers singlehandedly took on the liberal establishment in England, Australia, and here in the U.S.," Ruddy said.
Murdoch placed "billions of dollars" at risk to create Fox News, Ruddy added.
"I don't believe Donald Trump would have been elected had there not been a Fox News," he said.
But he noted Fox is changing direction which has put the network at odds with Trump as he runs for the Republican nomination.
Ruddy predicted that if Trump is the nominee as expected, Fox would be supportive of him in the general election.
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Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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