Christopher Ruddy: Newsmax Is Eyeing an IPO

“We never relied only on advertising. I think one of the keys to our success is we had a very good and robust mixed revenue model. And that has [helped] us over a long period of time.”

Earlier this summer, Newsmax CEO and founder Christopher Ruddy announced plans for an initial public offering, which aims to take place this year or in early 2025. Having founded the company in 1998, Mr. Ruddy has since grown Newsmax into a multi-faceted media company that distributes its content through its website, a print magazine, and a cable television channel called Newsmax TV. According to Reuters, “the company reaches more than 40 million Americans through its television, streaming, online and print platforms,” and, in his conversation here with Merion West editor-in-chief Erich J. Prince, Mr. Ruddy affirms his desire for Newsmax to continue to compete strongly with the traditional big three in cable television news: Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. In their conversation, Mr. Prince and Mr. Ruddy discuss Newsmax’s business model, the company’s competitors, methods of content delivery, and the demographics of the television news business.

To set the stage, can you give us the latest? I understand you have this private placement, and I understand you’re eyeing an IPO.

Erich, thank you very much for having me. Newsmax, as you know, has been around for a long time: 25 years, a long time for the Internet world. We’re one of the pioneers of conservative media online.

And [Newsmax] has done very well through the years. We entered the TV world about 10 years ago and now have a very significant cable news channel and TV operation. And we felt like maybe this is the time for us to go public [when] we’re so close to overtaking CNN in our ratings.