For years, Fox News has been America's dominant cable news network, with ratings that regularly best those of CNN and MSNBC.

However, one conservative rival contends that a lawsuit it recently filed should give Fox News cause to panic. 

Lawsuit claims Fox News pressured television distributors

According to the Associated Press, Newsmax is accusing Fox News of having violated federal antitrust legislation via its business practices. Newsmax alleges that Fox News sought to block cable television distributors from carrying it while similarly limiting the network's access to streaming platforms like Hulu, Sling and Fubo.

What's more, Newsmax contends that Fox News has resorted to additional underhanded tactics, such as creating a social media account to attack Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy.

These efforts are also said to include pressuring guests not to make appearances on Newsmax and hiring private investigators to monitor the company's executives.

Newsmax lawyer: Fox News has engaged in "textbook abuse of monopoly power"

Those claims are laid out in a lawsuit which Newsmax filed in the U.S. Southern District of Florida. The company has requested a jury trial.

"Since the inception of Newsmax’s cable channel, Newsmax has faced threats and smear intimidation tactics to hurt or undermine the company and its executives," the complaint reads.

The Associated Press noted that Newsmax lawyer Michael J. Guzman reiterated that assertion in a statement, saying, "Fox's behavior represents a textbook abuse of monopoly power."

"The law is clear: competition, not coercion, should decide what news channels Americans can watch. By leveraging its must-have status, Fox has blocked new voices, suppressed consumer choice, and extracted excess profits," he continued.

Fox News says that Newsmax "can't attract viewers" due to "competitive failures"

Newsmax's CEO released a similar statement, declaring, "Fox may have profited from exclusionary contracts and intimidation tactics for years, but those days are over."

The Associated Press noted that for its part, Fox News has dismissed Newsmax's lawsuit as an attempt to compensate for its shortcomings.

"Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can't attract viewers," a statement read.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail pointed out how Newsmax has hired some of Fox News' former on-air personalities, including  Greta Van Susteren and Greg Kelly.