Europeans with cable/satellite/other TV subscriptions: Do you get Fox "News" or other US-based right-wing channels? | Let's demand they drop the channel
12d 22h ago by lemmy.zip/u/BoycottTwitter in buyeuropean@feddit.uk
I found out that Fox News is available in many countries according to: https://www.foxnews.com/story/where-in-the-world-is-fox but the problem is the article is old. So I wanted to poll people from Europe and see what cable/satellite/whatever else is still offering Fox.
Why allow disinformation from America to come into Europe? My idea is it would be easy to convince TV providers not based in the US to drop Fox because it likely has low popularity and it's likely costing them a lot. Fox News earns a lot of money with transmission fees.
Please let me know if you are in another country, subscribe to some kind of TV service and are able to receive Fox "News".
The same could also apply to other right-wing propaganda stations that come from the US like Newsmax.
It is available in most of Europa via Astra 5°E satellite TV, but it is encrypted, so it needs some sort of subscription.
https://astra.de/channels/fox-news-channel
That’s the AFN (american forces network feed) it’s only for US bases and carriers, etc.
Afaik Fox does not have a broadcast license in the EU so they can’t really broadcast their channel here outside of some fringe pay tv providers that don’t count as broadcast tv. They actually had a license in the UK at some point but lost it after a year or so for non-compliance with the rules.
For what it's worth the article I linked to claims that Fox News is available in France through something called "Free" I suspect it's this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_(ISP) and "Orange, France Telecom (Voyage SAS)". I guess those fall under the Pay TV umbrella.
Yeah there are hundreds of channels available via ISP in France compared to the two dozen available via our television network called TNT.
EDIT: See comrade_twisty's comment. This might only be part of the AFN: https://lemmy.zip/post/55893766/23606295
In that case nevermind. Here's what I originally wrote:
I completed the contact form https://astra.de/kontakt. Here's the message I wrote to them:
Dear Astra,
I noticed Fox News was listed as one of the options for channels (https://astra.de/channels/fox-news-channel). I strongly urge Astra to consider dropping Fox News from your channel lineup. Former Fox News executives have said that say they now believe the conservative broadcaster has become a “disinformation machine” that’s destabilising democracy. (source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/fox-news-executives-disinformation-dominion-b2374308.html)
So Fox News isn't a real news station, it's a disinformation and propaganda machine that spreads hate and lies. I suspect very few Astra customers actually watch this channel yet depending on your agreements with Fox you may be giving the station a lot of money. Please consider dropping the channel as soon (I should have said as soon as possible I made a typo that I didn't notice before I hit send). Thank you so much for your consideration.
If there is someone who I can better address this matter to please pass along their contact information.
I'll admit I'm not the best writer and it probably wasn't the best move sending it in English but I felt it was likely better just to use my own words rather having AI write it in German or use a machine translator. Maybe it would be better to ask for help next time and have someone in the country the station is assist with the message if someone is willing.
However don't worry about this too much because I suspect volume and the basic message is what matters most: the more TV providers are contacted about this the better the chances are they will drop it so don't let the fact that I contacted them prevent you from contacting them. In fact if anything I hope it will encourage others to do likewise. It only took me a few minutes to fill out the form.
I don't and I'm glad for it. Seems like a propaganda sludge producing sepsis of a workplace. Can you imagine working there? Must be awful unless you turn your brain off when you clock in.
I have Freeview (free terrestrial TV in the UK), and we get Newsmax, but not Fox News. I expect this will also be the case with Freesat (free satellite) and Freely (free IPTV). Not sure about Sky (satellite/IPTV) or Virgin (cable), though.
I did some research on this and found out it's part of the streamed channels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DTT_channels_in_the_United_Kingdom#Streamed_channels. I couldn't find a contact form on the Freeview website but I sent a message to the "Channels" partner with us email address. I also sent an email to Stop Funding Hate about this to see if they would be interested in taking it on.
JFC, that description though:
Newsmax TV is America's first truly free 24/7 live channel with real news.
I've edited it so it has a more accurate description:
Newsmax TV is an American television channel owned by Newsmax described as conservative, pro-Trump, right-wing, and far-right.
That's a great update! Also remember to include the foreign ownership. According to https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/newsmax-bias-credibilty-reliability/
In 2024, it was reported that between 2019-2020, Former Qatari government official Sheikh Sultan bin Jassim Al Thani invested $50 million in Newsmax through Heritage Advisors. The paper cited sources employed at Newsmax at the time as saying that they were urged to soften news coverage of Qatar — a claim that the outlet rejects.
It reminds me a little of how GB News is owned by an investment firm in Dubai. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legatum
Legatum Limited is a private investment firm, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[1] Legatum was founded in 2006 by Christopher Chandler. Legatum owns the British broadcaster GB News.
* of course I'm just joking about including this in the article, it would be too long for the table to list all the problems with Newsmax, what you have is great!