Fuse is an American television channel owned by Fuse Media, LLC, that was originally launched in 1994 as MuchMusic USA, a localized version of the Canadian cable channel MuchMusic, owned by

CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM (AM), CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in ...

which was also the parent company of

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and was dedicated to music-based programming; the channel relaunched under its current branding in 2003. Fuse was acquired by SiTV Media in 2014 and, after merging with the Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, would shift its focus to general entertainment and lifestyle programming targeting multicultural young adults. By February 2015, Fuse was available to approximately 71,491,000 pay television households (61.4% of households with television) in the United States. With a number of cable operators discontinuing their carriage in the years since, the channel currently has an availability of around 34 million pay television households as of 2022.

History

As MuchMusic USA

The channel originally launched on July 1, 1994, as MuchMusic USA; it was founded as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Rainbow Media (currently known as AMC Networks), a division of New York–based

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

and

-based

. CHUM would later sell its 50% stake in the network to Cablevision in 2000, but allowed the continued use of the "MuchMusic" name under a brand licensing agreement. The channel suffered from a lack of carriage; outside of Cablevision's own systems and others (such as the now-defunct PrimeStar), not many providers carried the network. Beginning in 1996, Rainbow began an effort to add U.S-produced original programming and music video blocks to the network. Certain Cablevision systems in major markets also experimented with locally oriented music countdown shows, typically produced in cooperation with a local radio station (such as Cablevision's Boston system producing the ''MuchMusic Boston Countdown'' together with radio station WFNX). In 1998, the network also began to be included in a sub-unit of Rainbow focused upon live pay-per-view events taking place at New York's world-famous

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

and

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

(both also owned by Cablevision's founding Dolan family), ''Radio City Networks''. By 2001, MuchMusic USA began to diverge from its Canadian parent; it introduced a new logo identifying itself as MMUSA, and began to air its own original programming and music video blocks, often featuring user-submitted videos; the network's new direction centered around viewer interactivity via the Internet, with the "mmusa.tv" website being the focal point of the interaction. Carriage of the network began to expand with the rise of digital cable, with

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...

and

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

beginning to carry the channel around this time.

As Fuse

2003–2013

After CHUM revoked its licensing agreement for the U.S. channel to use the MuchMusic brand, Cablevision and Time Warner announced that it would relaunch MMUSA as Fuse in 2003; Fuse would officially relaunch on May 19, 2003 featuring more music centric shows like the IMX (TV series), the Uranium (TV series), and Kung Faux. Fuse's advertising during this launch period, by New York–based Amalgamated, indirectly bashed the Paramount-owned

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

with a slogan touting Fuse as the channel "where the music went" generating controversy both through its criticism of MTV, and through its parodies, particularly that of the iPod ad campaign and Viacom, the corporate owner of MTV and, for a short while, the former owner of many of Fuse's current sister properties, protested when a Fuse billboard appeared across from its headquarters featuring

Sally Struthers Sally Anne Struthers (born July 28, 1947) is an American actress and activist. She played Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie Bunker, Archie and Edith Bunker in ''All in the Family'', for which she won two Emmy Awards, and Babette on ''Gilmor ...

' plea to "save the music video". In 2008, Fuse became the exclusive television partner for some major music events, including signing a three-year deal to air the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. In April 2010,

's MSG unit, including Fuse, was spun off as a separate publicly traded company, The Madison Square Garden Company. On June 20, 2010, Fuse simulcast the 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards, marking its first broadcast of MuchMusic programming since its relaunch. Other MuchMusic programming would return in 2011, including '' The Wedge'' and '' Video on Trial'' (which would also gain an American version). Blink-182 and former +44 singer/bassist

Mark Hoppus Mark Allan Hoppus (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician and record producer. He is the co-lead vocalist, co-founder, and bassist for the rock band Blink-182 and the only member to appear on every album. Hoppus became interested in ska ...

began hosting his own weekly television series on Fuse that year, titled '' Hoppus on Music''. On June 28, 2011,

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

and Fuse entered into a video syndication and content partnership. As part of the partnership, Fuse.tv syndicates Vevo's music video and entertainment programming, including exclusive music video premieres, live music events, and originally produced series. In the fall of 2012, Fuse refocused itself with a new on-air branding campaign created by design agency LoyalKaspar, with its website now featuring trending music news stories. That winter, Fuse launched a

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

for Android and iOS devices. In November 2012, Fuse announced the launch of ''Fuse News'', a daily news update program which debuted in February 2013.

2013–2019

In March 2013, anonymous sources leaked news that MSG was planning to sell all or part of Fuse, as the network had been struggling, and was facing growing competition from digital outlets. On April 4, 2014, MSG and SiTV Media, the parent company of the Latino-oriented entertainment network NuvoTV, announced that SiTV would acquire Fuse for $226 million. SiTV outbid rival network Revolt, which had made a $200 million offer to acquire Fuse. As part of the deal, the Madison Square Garden Company would take a 15% stake in SiTV. Prior to the official announcement, Benny Medina (manager of

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

, the network's chief creative officer) stated that if SiTV were to acquire Fuse, there were no immediate plans to make any major changes to the network's programming, emphasizing that Fuse and NuvoTV would be "two different companies with two different identities, audiences and goals". However, on May 1, ''Fuse News'' was cancelled with immediate effect, with the entire staff let go, along with other cuts throughout the network. The acquisition was completed on July 1, 2014. In March 2015, Fuse announced its would expand beyond music programming and merge with NuvoTV. A new programming slate was announced, including ''White Guy Talk Show'', a

late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is charact ...

hosted by Grace Parra and Saurin Choksi, which debuted on March 2, 2015; and, debuting on April 9, ''Skee TV'', hosted by

DJ Skee Scott Keeney (born 15 November 1983), better known by his stage name DJ Skee, is an American artist, television host, radio personality, and entrepreneur. Skee rose to fame as the first DJ to discover and play superstar artists on the radio incl ...

, featuring interviews and live performances. In addition, the newly rebranded parent company, Fuse Media, announced the launch of a new music channel focusing on "up-and-coming, young, diverse talent". The new channel, FM, would later launch on September 30, 2015, replacing NuvoTV. In April 2015, Fuse became the exclusive broadcaster of

Legends Football League The Extreme Football League (X League) is a women's Semi-professional sports, semi-professional indoor American football league operating in the United States. The league was originally founded in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League (LFL), and ...

games in the United States. On July 31, 2015, Fuse announced they would relaunch with a new logo and branding on September 30, 2015. In addition to new series such as '' Transcendent'', which documents the lives of

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

women at AsiaSF Cabaret & Restaurant in San Francisco, and ''Revealed'', which features music videos, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage of artists at work, Fuse announced a multi-year partnership with comedian Gabriel Iglesias for additional new programming and comedy specials. In November 2017, a partnership between

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

and Fuse was announced in which Fuse will air a block of Complex digital series under the ''Complex x Fuse'' banner. The block premiered on November 10, 2017. Towards the end of 2018, both

and

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

announced that Fuse and FM would be dropped from Xfinity and Fios on January 1, 2019, reasoning that the networks' lack of viewership and Fuse's channel drift towards a sitcom and film repeat-heavy lineup did not justify continued carriage of the networks. Then-Fuse Media CEO Michael Schwimmer made the claim the networks were being dropped as Comcast's Department of Justice consent decree for their acquisition was relaxed regarding channel diversity and a commitment to independent channel operators, giving them an out from carrying the network. In reality, the decree remains in full effect and Fuse's ''de facto'' replacement, TV One sister network Cleo TV, launched broadly on Comcast systems on January 19 under the same decree. In April 2019, Fuse's parent company, Fuse Media, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing its lost coverage on Comcast and Verizon systems, as well as defaulting on a loan. On September 3, 2019, a Fuse-branded channel was launched on Pluto TV.

Since 2020

On November 19, 2020, current Fuse Media CEO Miguel Roggero and a "Latino-led management group" announced that they have acquired majority interest in the company. In March 2021, Fuse Media announced the launch of a new streaming division, merging the network's website, social media, and digital video outlets with new branded free ad-supported television (FAST) channels. That summer, Fuse Media launched a subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, "Fuse+", in beta. In December 2021, Comcast reached a renewed carriage agreement with Fuse Media, bringing Fuse and FM back to its cable service after 3 years, and also extending distribution of Fuse+ to its X1 and Flex

set-top box A set-top box (STB), also known as a cable converter box, cable box, receiver, or simply box, and historically television decoder or a converter, is an information appliance device that generally contains a Tuner (radio)#Television, TV tuner inpu ...

es. In 2024, Fuse became the exclusive English-Language outlet for American-Hispanic

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

promotion

Combate Global Combate Global (formerly known as Combate Americas) is an Hispanic American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company founded in 2011 by current-CEO Campbell McLaren and based in New York City, New York. Its business encompasses live events, ...

. In addition, Combate Global's library content would begin streaming on the company's El Rey Rebel FAST channel.

Programming

Original programming that's currently produced by Fuse consists of lifestyle series, reality shows, and documentaries. After merging with NuvoTV and launching FM in September 2015, Fuse would slowly scale down its music-based programming. Through its ''Fuse Presents'' series, the network has previously hosted live concerts from various venues, primarily from those owned by MSG.

Former on-air staff

Music blocks

* Esteban Serrano – host of ''Top 20 Countdown'' * Katie van Buren – host of ''Top 20 Countdown'' * Timothy Dunn – host of ''Got Ur #'' * Yasmine Richard – host of ''Top 20 Countdown'' and ''Trending 10''

Entertainment and music shows

* ''Trending 10'', hosted by

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon (book series), Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), '' ...

and Zuri Hall * '' Fuse Top 20 Countdown'', hosted by Juliya Chernetsky and Allison Hagendorf * '' Cee Lo Green * Talking to Strangers'' * '' Hoppus on Music'', hosted by

* ''Hip Hop Shop'' and ''On the Record'', hosted by

Touré Touré is the French transcription of a West African surname (English transcriptions are '' Turay'' and '' Touray''). The name is probably derived from ''tùùré'', the word for 'elephant' in Soninké, the language of the Ghana Empire. The clan ...

Fuse News

* Matte Babel – host of ''Fuse News'' *

Alexa Chung Alexa Chung (born 5 November 1983) is an English model and television personality. Chung pursued a modelling career as a teenager after being scouted by a modelling agency at the Reading Festival. She has walked for brands such as Vivienne Westw ...

– host of ''Fuse News'' * Georgie Okell – host of ''Fuse News'' * Elaine Moran – host of ''Fuse News'' and ''Trending 10'' *

Jack Osbourne Jack Joseph Osbourne (born 8 November 1985) is a British-American media personality. He is the son of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne. He starred on MTV's reality series '' The Osbournes'' (2002–2005), along with his ...

– host of ''Fuse News''

Related services

* Fuse+ – a subscription video on demand (SVOD) service. Launched in June 2021.

FM

FM (an

initialism An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial letter of each word in all caps wi ...

for Fuse Music) is an American digital cable

television network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...

that launched on September 30, 2015. The network replaced NuvoTV, which was merged into Fuse on the same day. The channel currently airs a mix of music documentaries, unrelated general interest programming, and reruns of past Fuse and NuvoTV programming. On July 9, 2018, Fuse Media announced a partnership with

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

to air a television version of syndicated

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

'' Big Boy’s Neighborhood'' on FM beginning July 30.