M7 Group provides European launch platform for far-right US news outlet NEWSMAX

US far-right news network NEWSMAX is set to come to Europe via a distribution deal with CANAL+-owned M7 Group.

NEWSMAX – which rose to prominence in late 2020 after repeating false claims that the presidential election was stolen – is currently available in 52 million pay TV homes in the US via operators including DIRECTV, Dish, Comcast and Verizon while also being available on OTT platforms such as Roku and Samsung TV Plus.

The channel will start broadcasting in Europe in June on free-to-air via the M7 satellite platform at ASTRA 23.5 East. 

NEWSMAX will be listed in the EPG’s of Skylink (Czech Republic and Slovakia), Canal Digitaal (Netherlands) and TV VLAANDEREN (Flanders), the M7-owned Direct-To-Home platforms operating via ASTRA 23.5. It will also be available as a linear OTT channel via the M7 platforms in Hungary (Direct One), Romania (Focussat), Austria (HD Austria) and Wallonia (TéléSAT).

Bill Wijdeveld, VP Platform Content Services at M7 Group, comments: “We are welcoming NEWSMAX on board of our TV platforms, allowing the channel to launch into multiple European markets in one go. We thank NEWSMAX for its trust in our service provisioning and look forward to a fruitful cooperation over the coming years.”

Andy Biggers, SVP of Content Distribution of NEWSMAX adds: “We selected M7 as our European launch partner as it allows us to be instantly available in 7 European key markets. Moreover, being available via ASTRA 23.5 East allows us to deliver NEWSMAX to third party operators throughout ASTRA’s Europe-wide footprint in optimal picture and sound quality.”

According to media outlet fact checker Media Bias Fact Check, NEWSMAX is considered a questionable source with low credibility for accurate news reporting. In mid-2021, it was forced to apologise to Dominion Voting Systems for claims that it manipulated voting machines and counts to thwart the re-election of president Donald Trump.