Rep. Tenney To Newsmax: DirecTV Plan for Conservative Channel Worrisome

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., on Monday joined a growing chorus of critics on the dropping of Newsmax by AT&T's DirecTV, saying she's worried the satellite TV service aims to isolate conservative views with its plan for a conservative-only channel.

Appearing on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Tenney said the DirecTV's action smacks of "censorship."

"I wrote a letter on behalf of Newsmax because I can see the censorship that was coming from DirecTV," she said.

"This has happened to other conservative stations," she said in reference to DirecTV's dropping of One America News Network in April 2022, adding: "I consider you guys to be factual and willing to take on the hard issues."

DirecTV said it dropped Newsmax as cost-cutting measure over licensing fees; a similar claim was made last year when OAN was deplatformed.

"We can't put the conservatives in an isolated box," Tenney said. "We all have to be in the same marketplace of ideas."

Tenney, who was co-owner and publisher of a community newspaper, said she has learned the importance of balancing news coverage.

"Creating a special channel … concerns me," she said of DirecTV's newly announced plan. "In order to get the public's attention focused on millions of people using DirecTV to say, 'Over here we're going to have this channel that's not going to contain all these ideas' concerns me," she said.

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