Newsmax launched a cable television channel on June 16, 2014, to 35 million satellite subscribers through DirecTV and Dish Network.

[55][56] In response, forty-two House Republicans signed a letter to DirecTV executives attacking the removal as an act of "suppressing politically disfavored speech.

[58][59] Ruddy started Newsmax.com on September 16, 1998, supported by a group of investors, including the family of former Central Intelligence Agency Director William J. Casey.

[62] Other news figures who later joined the Newsmax board included Arnaud de Borchgrave, the longtime Newsweek chief correspondent who also serves as editor-at-large of United Press International (UPI), and Jeff Cunningham, former publisher of Forbes.

The profile detailed Newsmax's plans to launch a linear and Over-the-top (OTT) content cable channel, and suggested their revenue model which sells "a smorgasbord of political, health, and financial information, self-help books, and even vitamin supplements" could make the company uniquely competitive in this arena.

[76] In November 2017, Politico reported that Fox News, facing new competitors, was giving more favorable coverage to President Donald Trump.

[43][82][44] Emily VanDerWerff of Vox reported that the outlet "spent lots of time arguing that other media outlets jumped the gun in calling the election for Biden and that Trump still has a path to win this thing," and that it was one of the only networks that didn't call the election for Biden, citing the Trump campaign's legal challenges.

"[47] CNN's Brian Stelter, in an on-air interview, asked Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy why the network chose to air "election denialism" and "bogus voter fraud stuff," to which Ruddy replied that the network featured all points of view and argued that all of the other major news outlets who had reported Biden's election win were "rushing".

The Hicks group identified a team of executives who would manage the network, and had been talking to former Fox News hosts including Megyn Kelly.

[86] Media analyst Michael Nathanson reported that if a competing network took 20% of Fox News' audience, it could sap about $200 million in annual profit from the company.

In an interview with Variety, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy stated "we are not actively selling" the company though he had expressions of interests from investors.

In December 2020, Smartmatic sent a letter to Newsmax threatening legal action and demanding "a full and complete retraction of all false and defamatory statements and reports.

"[98] Jeffrey McCall, a journalism professor at DePauw University, told Mediaite that "Ruddy is a pragmatist unlikely to allow his operation to be a fully ideological platform.

[100] Newsmax TV momentarily exceeded Fox News in viewership in December 2020, but lost viewers after the conclusion of the election cycle.

[103] In July 2021, Vox noted that "Newsmax's effort to out-Trump the competition has been less successful since Trump left the White House for Mar-a-Lago.

"[104] In November 2021, a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate described Newsmax as being among "ten fringe publishers" that together were responsible for nearly 70 percent of Facebook user interactions with content that denies climate change.

[105][106][107] Also in November 2021, Newsmax White House correspondent Emerald Robinson falsely tweeted that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine contained luciferase "so that you can be tracked."

This echoed earlier false social media claims that the vaccine supposedly had satanic links due to "lucifer" in luciferase and alleged references to "666."

[116] This increase surpassed the 2020 post-election surge and on a night-by-night basis they challenged CNN through the month to be the third-most-watched cable news channel (behind MSNBC and Fox).

[119][120] In March 2024, The Washington Post reported that between 2019 and 2020, a member of the Qatari Royal Family had invested $50 million in the network in the midst of the Qatar diplomatic crisis.

[121][122][123] In April 2024, Newsmax was included as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit by a man who was falsely identified as the perpetrator of the 2023 Allen, Texas mall shooting, alongside others such as Fox News and InfoWars personality Owen Shroyer.

[136][137] On June 10, 2024, during its coverage of a rally organized in Las Vegas by former and future president Donald Trump, Newsmax announced it plans to file for an initial public stock offering either in late 2024 or early 2025.

[138] The plan was confirmed on September 5, 2024, with the company expected to be listed under the ticker symbol "NMAX" on the New York Stock Exchange in the first quarter of 2025.

[140] In 2009, editor Michael Massing of the Columbia Journalism Review stated that "Far-right Web sites like World Net Daily and Newsmax.com floated all kinds of specious stories about Obama that quickly careened around the blogosphere and onto talk radio.

"[141] In March 2009, MarketWatch's media critic Jon Friedman stated that "Newsmax has flourished because Ruddy has exhibited a stronger commitment to the bottom line than to presenting himself as an ideologue.

[68] When Sarah Palin stopped by the office for an interview, U.S. News & World Report suggested the move was the clearest indication yet she was planning to run for president.

The profile detailed Newsmax's plans to launch a linear and over-the-top (OTT) content cable channel, and suggested their revenue model which sells "a smorgasbord of political, health, and financial information, self-help books, and even vitamin supplements" could make the company uniquely competitive in this arena.

[145] In 2017, The Washington Post described the relationship Ruddy, though not a registered Republican, had with President Donald Trump as a significant influence: "...with his dual role as a newsman and a close friend".

The company reports a monthly readership of almost one million on their paid subscription products, including Newsmax magazine and multiple finance- and health-focused newsletters.

[166][167] Alongside N1 and Nova S, Newsmax Adria acted as a rival to Telekom Srbija and regularly reported Serbia's government corruption scandals.