Fox’s monopoly on conservative cable news may soon come to an end.
A Bloomberg Businessweek profile published Thursday revealed Newsmax.com founder and CEO Christopher Ruddy’s plans to expand beyond his highly-trafficked website and influential magazine into television with a 24-hour cable news channel called NewsmaxTV — described as a “kinder, gentler Fox” — launching as early as June.
“Our goal is to be a little more boomer-oriented, more information-based rather than being vituperative and polarizing,” Ruddy told the magazine.
Newsmax.com already broadcasts NewsmaxTV segments online for three hours a day, featuring interviews conducted by conservative radio host Steve Malzberg. But Ruddy sees an opening in the cable news market for a conservative audience that feels Fox has turned too far to the right.
“If we take 10 to 15 percent of the Fox audience, and they are making $1 billion a year, then we are going to be hugely profitable,” he told Bloomberg.
Image via Shutterstock / Maxx-Studio
