Breitbart Business Digest: Expect a Trump Tariff Boom, Not a Recession

The Establishment’s Big Guns Come Out Blazing Against Tariffs Olivier Blanchard is a renowned economist—former chief economist of the IMF, Robert M. Solow Professor Emeritus at MIT, and Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. When he speaks, the establishment listens. So, when Blanchard took to social media Wednesday morning—or “Liberation Day,” as…

AI Tool Launched to Connect Scientists with 250 Million Research Articles

Reading Time: 2 minutesIn a significant step forward for open science, DeSci Labs has unveiled an AI-driven article matcher on its DeSci Publish platform, designed to assist scientists in navigating a vast repository of over 250 million articles. Launched by the Switzerland-based start-up, this innovative tool aims to streamline the research process for both authors and readers, fostering deeper connections within the global scientific community.The article matcher, powered by artificial intelligence, draws from the extensive Open Alex database to deliver highly relevant research matches. For authors, it offers a practical solution to refine their publication strategies. By identifying closely related studies, researchers can gain a clearer understanding of existing literature, pinpoint journals that have recently published similar work, and even discover potential peer reviewers for their submissions. This functionality promises to save time and enhance the precision of the publishing process.For readers, the tool provides an equally compelling benefit. Each time a paper is viewed on DeSci Publish, the matcher displays five closely related articles published within the past five years. Remarkably, this feature extends to older works as well, such as studies from the 1960s, enabling users to trace the evolution of a topic from foundational classics to cutting-edge advancements. This “time jump” capability enriches the reading experience, offering a seamless way to explore scientific progress across decades.Professor Philipp Koellinger, CEO and co-founder of DeSci Labs, highlighted the tool’s unique value. “DeSci Publish’s new AI article matcher opens up a new way to discover the scientific literature. Existing search engines require you to know what you’re looking for, like a paper title, but they do not show you closely related work. But what if you just want to browse and learn more about a topic? For that, you would typically look at the references of a paper you found interesting,” he explained. “However, that only reveals related publications that the authors were aware of when they wrote the paper. Our AI article matcher fills a gap by immediately showing you five closely related papers published in the past five years. You can just click on them and keep reading and discovering.”Founded in July 2021, DeSci Labs emerged with a mission to tackle the replication crisis in science by rethinking the fundamentals of scientific publishing. The organisation seeks to make research more accessible, innovative, and reliable through improved incentives, workflows, and infrastructure. DeSci Publish, its flagship platform, offers open-access publishing where research is not only shared but also validated and curated. The AI article matcher complements this vision by providing users with matching articles, novelty scores, and other AI-driven analytics.The tool’s launch has been met with enthusiasm from the scientific community, particularly for its potential to bridge gaps in research discovery.  Key features of the AI article matcher include: Comprehensive coverage. It scans over 250 million articles, ensuring a broad and diverse pool of research.Author support. Researchers can refine publication strategies and identify reviewers with ease.Reader enrichment. The ability to connect classic studies with recent papers enhances contextual understanding.Accessibility. The tool is free to use, aligning with DeSci Labs’ commitment to open science.DeSci Labs’ broader mission underscores the importance of this development. By providing technology that simplifies the packaging and sharing of research, the organisation aims to elevate the quality of scientific practice. The AI matcher is a testament to its goal of fostering a fairer, more transparent research ecosystem where the best practices are recognised and rewarded.

Scientists Pioneer New Way To Transform Toxic “Forever Chemicals” Into Valuable Material

Over the last few years, there have been increasingly worrying reports about the toxic impacts so called “forever” chemicals are having on our health and the wider environment. It’s hard stuff to swallow, but now there is a little glimmer of light in this worrying story. Researchers have developed a solution that removes these substances from water and then transforms it into valuable graphene.“Forever chemicals” are the common name for per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), which are a group of synthetic compounds that are found in many common household items. Ever since the 1950s, these compounds have been celebrated for their water and stain-resistant properties. As such, they have been used as coatings in countless objects, including pots and pans, clothing, adhesives, food packaging, cooking surfaces, furniture, electrical wiring and even firefighting foams. They are also found in supposedly biodegradable objects, such as paper straws.PFAS have earned their common name from their long-lasting presence in the environment and the bodies of organisms that consume them – essentially, PFAS don’t naturally break down, which means they can linger for centuries after their use. Increasingly, scientists are becoming aware of the dangers these forever chemicals pose to human bodies as they have been linked to various adverse health outcomes, including cancer and immune system disruptions.As you can imagine, the growing awareness of these issues is prompting a greater need to deal with them, but traditional methods of PFAs disposal are costly and energy-intensive. They also usually create secondary pollutants as byproducts. However, researchers at Rice University, Houston, Texas, have developed a new method that overcomes these issues.“Our method doesn’t just destroy these hazardous chemicals; it turns waste into something of value,” James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry and professor of materials science and nanoengineering explained in a statement.“By upcycling the spent carbon into graphene, we’ve created a process that’s not only environmentally beneficial but also economically viable, helping to offset the costs of remediation.”Tour, graduate student Phelecia Scotland, and colleagues used flash joule heating (FJH) in their innovative approach. They combined granular activated carbon (GAC) saturated with PFAS and mineralizing agents, such as sodium and calcium salts, which they then zapped with a high voltage to produce temperatures of over 3,000 degrees Celsius (5432 Fahrenheit) in less than a second. The intense heat breaks down the stable carbon-fluorine bonds in the forever chemicals, converting them into inert and nontoxic fluoride salts. At the same time, the GAC is upcycled into graphene, a highly valued material used in electronics and construction.According to the researchers, their technique yielded more than 96 percent defluorination efficiency and 99.98 percent removal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), one of the most common PFAS pollutants.Importantly, tests confirmed that the process produced undetectable amounts of volatile organic fluorides, which are the common harmful byproducts created in traditional PFAS treatments. The reaction also seems to eliminate the secondary wastes associated with traditional disposal methods such as incineration or adding spent carbon to landfills.“This dual-purpose approach is a game changer,” Scotland added. “It transforms waste into a resource while providing a scalable, cost-effective solution to an urgent environmental issue.”The new approach could have significant implications for dealing with toxic forever chemicals, extending beyond the treatment of PFOA and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid – the two most studied PFAS. The technique even works on the most difficult PFAS types – Teflon R. The high temperatures produced by the method could degrade a wide range of these chemicals, offering new solutions to water treatment and waste disposal.In addition, the FJH approach can also be tailored to produce other valuable materials, such as carbon nanotubes and nanodiamonds, adding to its versatility and economic strength.“With its promise of zero net cost, scalability and environmental benefits, our method represents a step forward in the fight against forever chemicals,” Scotland explained. “As concerns over PFAS contamination continue to grow, this breakthrough offers hope for safeguarding water quality and protecting public health worldwide.”The paper is published in Nature Water.

Val Kilmer said yes to major role without reading script – but filming was ‘unpleasant experience’

Kilmer’s depiction of the cool and confident fighter pilot resonated with audiences and solidified his status as a leading man in Hollywood despite Tom Cruise taking the leading role19:43, 02 Apr 2025Updated 19:44, 02 Apr 2025Val Kilmer died from pneumonia in Los Angeles after struggling with throat cancer for years that permanently altered his voice(Image:

Val Kilmer said yes to major role without reading script – but filming was ‘unpleasant experience’

Kilmer’s depiction of the cool and confident fighter pilot resonated with audiences and solidified his status as a leading man in Hollywood despite Tom Cruise taking the leading role19:43, 02 Apr 2025Updated 19:44, 02 Apr 2025Val Kilmer died from pneumonia in Los Angeles after struggling with throat cancer for years that permanently altered his voice(Image:

Reliance Signs JV With BLAST To Enter Esports Business

SUMMARY
RIL said that the JV will offer services such as end-to-end tournament management, marketing, production and broadcasting
While BLAST will bring its esports properties and publisher relationships to the table, Reliance will pitch in with its tech stack, distribution and local relationships
Europe-based BLAST partners with game publishers to host esport tournaments, and claims to have a user base of over 15 Mn on its platform

.google-icon {
align-items: center;
display: flex;
}
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-icons li .inc42-toggle-item-popup img{
filter: none;
}
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-layout {
border-radius: 8px;
background: #202027;
border: none;
}
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-icons ul li{
background: #2C2C2C;
}
.site-inc42-plus .saved-post-btn svg path {
stroke: #fff;
}
.site-inc42-plus .saved-post-btn.unfollow-item svg path {
fill: #fff;
}
.saved-post-btn.unfollow-item svg path {
fill: #000;
}
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-icons {
border-left: 1px solid #0D0D0D;
}
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-modal-content li{
background: #4B4B4B;
}
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-modal-content {
background: #202027;
padding: 20px 16px 28px;
}
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-news ul li {
border-radius: 6px;
border: 1px solid #CACACA;
background: #000;
}
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-news ul li a{
color: #fff !important;
}
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-icons li img,
.site-inc42-plus .social-media-modal-content li img {
filter: invert();
}
.social-media-layout {
border-radius: 8px;
border: 1px solid #E6E6E6;
background: #FFF;
margin-bottom: 16px;
height: 63px;
}
/* .saved-item svg path {
fill: #000;
} */
.social-media-news {
padding: 13px 10px;
}
.social-media-icons {
padding: 13px 10px;
border-left: 1px solid #E6E6E6;
}

.social-media-news ul li {
width: 132px;
height: 37px;
border-radius: 6px;
border: 1px solid #CACACA;
background: #FFF;
margin-right: 8px;
}
.social-media-news ul li span {
margin-top: 2px;
margin-left: 4px;
}
.divAlign {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
align-items: center;
}
.social-media-icons li{
border-radius: 6px;
background: #E8E8E8;
width: 37px;
height: 37px;
margin-right: 8px;
}
.social-media-icons li:last-child,
.social-media-news ul li:last-child{
margin-right: 0;
}
.social-media-icons li img {
height: 20px;
width: 20px !important;
border-radius: 0 !important;
}
.social-media-layout li a{
color: #030303 !important;
font-size: 12px;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 600;
line-height: 18.2px;
}
.social-media-icons ul li a,
.social-media-layout li button{
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
display: flex;
text-align: center;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
}
.social-media-icons ul li:nth-last-child(-n+2){
margin-right: 0;
}
.social-media-news ul li a{
padding: 0px 11px;
height: 100%;
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
}
.social-media-news ul li img{
width: 20px !important;
height: 20px;
margin-right: 5px;
border-radius: 0 !important;
object-fit: cover;
}
.display-mobile-view {
display: none;
}
@media (max-width: 767px) {
.toggle-items-content-main {
left: 0 !important;
width: 100% !important;
height: 122px;

}
/* .toggle-items-content .items-content-text h4{
font-size: 16px;
} */
.saved-post-main .inc42-toggle-item-popup{
width: 100%;
left: 0;
position: absolute;
}
.inc42-toggle-item-popup .CustomIconStyled {
right: 155px;
}
.toggle-items-content{
padding-top: 30px;
}
.saved-post-main .inc42-toggle-item-popup .CustomIconStyled {
right: 18px;
}
.display-mobile-view {
display: block !important;
}
.social-media-icons ul li {
display: none;
}
.social-media-icons ul .saved-post-btn {
display: block;
}
.social-media-news ul li{
width: 96px;
height: 30px;
}
.social-media-news ul li span {
margin-left: 0px;
}
.social-media-layout{
height: 51px;

}
.social-media-news ,
.social-media-icons{
padding: 10px;
}
.single-post-summary span{
font-size: 16px;
line-height: 23.4px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
.social-media-layout li a{
font-size: 10px !important;
line-height: 14.2px !important;
}
.social-media-news ul li a {
padding: 0px 5px;
}
.social-media-icons li{
width: 32px;
height: 30px;
}
}
.saved-post-btn{
background: transparent;
text-transform: inherit;
padding: 0px;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 600;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
font-size: 16px;
line-height: 18px;
-webkit-box-align: center;
-ms-flex-align: center;
align-items: center;
color: #333333;
}
.saved-post-main ul li {
display: block;
}

Reliance-owned sports tech platform RISE Worldwide has formed a joint venture (JV) with Europe-based BLAST to co-create esports tournaments for Indian users.
In an exchange filing, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) said that the JV will offer services such as end-to-end tournament management, targeted marketing, production and broadcasting. In addition, it will cater to game publishers and sponsors.
The JV will leverage BLAST’s esports properties, production expertise, publisher relationships and popular intellectual properties (IPs). The combined entity will also explore synergies with Jio’s tech stack, distribution and local relationships to host esports events on the JioGames platform.
“… By partnering with Reliance, a market leader with unparalleled expertise and reach in India, we have a unique opportunity to elevate the local esports scene to new heights… This joint venture will not only help grow the Indian esports ecosystem but also create new pathways for local talent to shine on the global stage,” BLAST CEO Robbie Douek said.
BLAST partners with game publishers like EA Games, Ubisoft, EPIC Games and Riot Games to host esport tournaments. It claims to have a user base of over 15 Mn, with 707 Mn views on its platform.
On the other hand, RISE Worldwide is a sports and event management company, which manages events like Indian Super League, Lakmé Fashion Week, among others. It also offers a suite of services such as sponsorship consulting, athlete management, marketing, media rights management, sports broadcast production, licensing, among others.

With this, the Reliance-backed JV will now lock horns with homegrown new-age tech companies like NODWIN Gaming, India Gaming League and esport tournament streaming apps such as Loco.
The JV will look to capitalise on the growing online gaming market in India, which was home to over 600 Mn active gamers in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24). As per a Lumikai report, the Indian gaming market generated $3.8 Bn in revenue in FY24.

.entry-footer-banner iframe { width: 100%; }

Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Michael’ Could Be Split Into Two Movies, Pushed to 2026 — Report

Billboard Women in Music 2025

At Lionsgate‘s CinemaCon presentation on Tuesday, there was plenty of news about the “John Wick” and “Hunger Games” franchises, but little mention of one of the biggest films on its slate, “Michael” — other than a tease that a new announcement would be coming within a few weeks.

Antoine Fuqua‘s Michael Jackson biopic has long been a major priority for the studio, with president of worldwide television distribution Jim Packer telling investors that it would be “the biggest film we’ve ever had” in 2024. The film was beset by controversy from the start, with the director of “Leaving Neverland” publicly battling with the filmmakers over the idea that it would whitewash the allegations of child abuse against Jackson.

Related Stories

And it hit an even bigger snag in 2024, when it was reported that a third of the film had to be reshot due to a legal misunderstanding. Much of the film’s third act reportedly centered around the accusations made against Jackson by Jordan Chandler, who alleged that Jackson sexually abused him at the age of 13. But after the film was shot, it was revealed that Jackson’s estate had previously reached a settlement with the Chandler family that prevented Jordan from being featured in any future films about Jackson’s life. The Jackson estate is reportedly footing the bill for the reshoots, which are said to be extensive.

The film was originally scheduled for an April 2025 release, but the reshoots prompted Lionsgate to push the film to October 3. Now, it appears the film could be moving yet again. Multiple outlets have reported that the studio is considering splitting the project into two films, with the first half potentially being delayed to 2026.

While reports stress that no final decision has been made — and variables in play include the availability of IMAX screens and the timing of potential awards campaigns — splitting the film in half would give Lionsgate the opportunity to get the finished footage into theaters sooner while buying itself time to complete the reshoots. Multiple parties would have to sign off on any decision — including Universal, which is handling international distribution on the project.

Lionsgate declined to comment on this story. The news was first reported by Deadline.

‘A Minecraft Movie’ Review: Jack Black Tries to Dig His Way Out of a Deeply Unimaginative Block-Buster About the Joy of Infinite Creativity

Billboard Women in Music 2025

Considering that “A Minecraft Movie” seemed as though it might cause the end of Western civilization itself, I’m relieved to report that Warner Bros.’ bright, buoyant, block-busting video game adaptation merely coincides with it. That isn’t to say that it’s good, per se, or to suggest that I recommend paying money to sit through such a wantonly derivative corporate product about the sacred joy of creativity (and the soul-crushing evil of the profit motive!), but there’s some legitimate fun to be had in watching director Jared Hess and a small army of screenwriters try to excavate a kid-friendly adventure saga from the infinite sandbox of their source material.

Related Stories

Unsurprisingly — or, as someone with a fatal allergy to “Napoleon Dynamite,” very surprisingly — most of that fun stems from the moments when “The Minecraft Movie” actually feels like it was made by the guy behind “Napoleon Dynamite.” The vast majority of those moments are concentrated in the first act of the story, before the brunt of its human characters are sucked into the cubic dreamscape of the video game’s Overworld and steered through a paint-by-numbers plot so unashamedly mashed together from “The Lord of the Rings” and “The LEGO Movie” that WB might have to sue itself. 

It begins with a kid named Steve, who — like all 11-year-old boys — yearned to work in the mines. Alas, The Man said no to his dream of swinging a pickaxe all day within the bowels of a pitch-dark cave, and so poor Steve grew up to be the saddest doorknob salesman that Chuglass, Idaho had ever seen. Also, he grew up to be “Nacho Libre” star Jack Black (who’s amped up to such an unprecedented degree of Jack Blackness that it makes his work in “School of Rock” look like a Bressonian exercise in restraint by comparison), and there’s simply no use telling a Jack Black character not to rock. 

So back to the mines Steve goes, where a glowing orb spirits him away to a magical place in which absolutely everything is cube-shaped; it’s a place where our hero is free to mine his brains out, and to build anything that his imagination can… imagine. The only problem is that an army of zombies and skeletons crawl out of the ground every night, the days are only 20 minutes long, and Steve is soon taken prisoner by the pig lord Malgosha (voiced by Rachel House), an evil swine who’s determined to escape the hellish Nether region that she rules like a square-cut Saruman. 

[embedded content]

Her goal: To destroy creative expression throughout the universe, and force everyone — in the Overworld, and beyond — to live in the same joyless hell that she does. Unaware that Republicans have already adopted that plan as their official platform, Malgosha seeks the power of the orb to bring her bacon-scented brand of destruction to the human realm, where Steve’s pet wolf has kept it secret, and kept it safe.

Enter: recently orphaned teenagers Natalie (a winsome Emma Myers) and her curly-haired younger brother Henry (an explicitly Frodo-coded Sebastian Hansen), who move to Chuglass in order to fulfill their late mother’s dying wish. Natalie lands a gig as the social media manager of the local potato chip company (a distressingly realistic plot detail that only one or two of the movie’s five credited writers seem to have been aware of), while Henry — a brainiac with his head in the clouds — tries to survive his first day at a new high school. 

Kids may not see what’s so funny about Jennifer Coolidge’s performance as a divorced principal who can’t stop hitting people with her Jeep Cherokee, but the “White Lotus” star is a perfect fit for Hess’ affectation-driven humor, and the opening scenes of “A Minecraft Movie” are sustained by the slivers of well-honed quirk that managed to survive the studio process. Ditto Jason Momoa’s high-key turn as Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, a Billy Mitchell-esque video game champion who’s stuck in the late ’80s; the character seems like a marketing team memo come to life, but Momoa’s herculean cartoonishness rescues the role from the faint stink of feeling like it was written for Chris Pratt, and he embraces the aggro insecurity of it all in a way that would make Jon Heder proud. 

‘A Minecraft Movie’

While Hess doesn’t have a screenplay credit here, there are stretches of this film where it truly feels like he was the sole creative voice (e.g. whenever Henry’s gym teacher is on screen), and though “A Minecraft Movie” doesn’t get around to its half-assed — or quarter-assed — message until long after the action has been subsumed by toyetic spectacle, the first act of this story manages to make good on the courage of the third act’s convictions. It’s only when Natalie, Henry, Garrett, and an animal-loving real estate agent named Dawn (Danielle Brooks) bumble into the Overworld that “A Minecraft Movie” betrays its uncanny resemblance to the Kool-Aid subplot of “The Studio,” and the film starts to feel like it’s wrestling its creative energy into submission rather than finding a way to set it free.

Once upon a time, the fact that “Minecraft” is a game without a story might have been seen as an opportunity to do something a little different and more bespoke with a beloved piece of video game IP. Alas, for reasons that remain unclear, Hollywood would rather follow in the footsteps of 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (a hyper-basic adaptation which grossed $1.3 billion) than in those of 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.” (an unhinged Ballardian nightmare that bombed at the box office, and was remembered by star Bob Hoskins as the one thing in his life he wished he could undo), and so the Overworld is flattened into a colorful backdrop for a painfully generic adventure, rather than used as a tool for unrestrained ingenuity. 

Fleet pacing, vivid colors, and a poppy Mark Mothersbaugh score do what they can to paper over the film’s prefab nature, but even kids — especially kids — will pick up on the disconnect between what they can make in “Minecraft” (anything they can imagine) and what Hess has made of “Minecraft” (nothing they haven’t seen before). Things unfold without any trace of surprise, as the gang links up with Steve and embarks on a spirited quest in search of the other MacGuffin thingy they need to get home or whatever. They fight the undead, they fly across a valley in order to escape from Malgosha’s war party, and, just when it seems like the film might finally ease up on the “Fellowship of the Ring” homage, they take refuge in a mountain pass that turns out to be teeming with monsters.

Hess is able to maintain a certain degree of irreverence throughout the film (there’s a bit towards the end involving Malgosha’s dagger that my five-year-old and I have been laughing about for days), but most of its personality is pushed to the margins as the action wears on. That trend is epitomized by the semi-amusing subplot in which one of the Overworld’s unibrowed Villagers wanders into reality and immediately collides with Coolidge, a subplot that “A Minecraft Movie” makes exactly zero attempt to weave into the rest of its story. It’s like the studio agreed to let Hess maintain a dash of absurdity on the side as a little treat, so long as it didn’t get in the way of the high-energy nothingness that he was hired to preserve at all costs. The bickering dynamic between Black and Momoa becomes the story’s driving force, with the rest of the cast left to roll their eyes at the wannabe alphas and/or jettisoned to their own subplots just to keep them out of the way (Myers and Brooks get the worst of both worlds). 

It’s a real credit to Black’s irrepressibly unique comic energy that “A Minecraft Movie” never feels quite as hypocritical as it should. Either disastrously ill-suited for its message about how money is the enemy of joy, or immaculately well-suited for its message about much harder it is to build things than it is to destroy them, Hess’ film can’t help but feel like its very existence is an affront to the creative freedom that has allowed “Minecraft” to become such a vital form of self-exploration for kids around the world (even Warner Bros.’ choice to call it “A Minecraft Movie” as opposed to “The Minecraft Movie” implies a spectrum of different concepts, despite the reality of a business that can only imagine this one). But Black — whatever his charms, and regardless of how well they’re deployed here — is a living testament to the idea that people can still thrive by staying true to their own expression. If not in this world, then perhaps in one of their own design. 

Grade: C

Warner Bros. will release “A Minecraft Movie” in theaters on Friday, April 4.

Want to stay up to date on IndieWire’s film reviews and critical thoughts? Subscribe here to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best new reviews and streaming picks along with some exclusive musings — all only available to subscribers.

Meet Newsmax, a Trump-adjacent business with credible prospects

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldOne conservative television empire is — unsurprisingly — thriving in the age of President Donald Trump. Can a second find similar success? Hoping to replicate, if not challenge, Fox Corporation, Newsmax went public this week. The Trump-friendly cable TV network raised $75mn. On Tuesday, its shares surged from its listing price of $10 to $233, implying a market capitalisation of $30bn. That day-one bump gave Newsmax an enterprise value roughly in line with that of Fox Corporation, which owns the long-standing conservative network Fox News. Yet Fox generated $14bn of revenue in its fiscal 2024. Newsmax, by contrast, had 2024 calendar year revenue of just $170mn.Various Trump-affiliated projects — from the Truth Social app to cryptocurrencies — have experienced some element of meme phenomenon. Newsmax’s shares are no exception. But do not discount the network’s influence in right-wing circles and the resulting opportunity to build a meaningful business over time. Newsmax is already beamed into 50mn households and has several highly rated shows that stack up well against Fox News. The difference between the two now-rivals: Newsmax has barely made a start on monetising its subscribers. Pay-TV networks are businesses in secular decline. In a decade, total households subscribing to satellite and cable have drifted down from around 100mn in the US to under 60mn. But the sector still generates a lot of cash via advertising and subscriptions. On the latter front, Newsmax notes that the likes of Fox News, CNN and MSNBC charge between $0.83 cent and $2.50 per month per subscriber, among the priciest networks available. Newsmax has not disclosed its exact rate but is estimated at only a dime or two.As a result, at Fox, total affiliate fees — think customer subscriptions rerouted to the media company via the pay-TV distributor — across all its broadcast networks netted more than $7bn, while advertising generated just $5bn.Affiliate fees in 2024 at Newsmax were just 16 per cent of revenue, with the company relying on ad bucks for the rest. Expect Newsmax to begin charging distributors a sum that is more in line with its own ratings and that of the peers it is already challenging in viewership figures.Newsmax is building a streaming platform too, which has a subscription tier that charges $4.99 each month. But the company admits that most of its viewers are above age 45 and still glued to traditional television. Various Fox personalities have now migrated to Newsmax. For the first time, the legacy conservative brand has to fight for its core audience. The sensational Newsmax valuation will no doubt recede in the coming weeks. In early trading on Wednesday its shares were down some 40 per cent. But what remains is one of the most interesting entrepreneurial bets of the Trump era. Newsmax is not a tech disrupter. Neither is it taking advantage of a booming sector. Its now billionaire founder Christopher Ruddy is simply wagering that even a dying industry can support a new entrant, if it produces content people want. sujeet.indap@ft.com