No Revolt: NUVOtv Parent Wins MSG's Fuse

There were rumblings even before Sean Combs ' Revolt TV launched in Oct that it was eyeing Madison Square Garden's music net Fuse, but in the end, Jenny from the Block and her NuvoTV posse got the prize. Nuvo parent SiTV agreed to pay $226mln and give MSG a 15% equity stake, which will be subject to potential reduction based on certain performance goals. While Revolt is focused on all things music, English-language Latino net Nuvo has never billed itself as a music channel. It has everything from celebrity interviews to “Dexter” repeats and soon a reality boxing competition. But Nuvo does count singer/actress Jennifer Lopez as chief creative officer. “Music is my first love so the acquisition of Fuse is near and dear to my heart,” she said in a statement. “It's exciting that between NuvoTV and Fuse we'll have the ability to deliver a broad array of terrific content both from a Latino perspective and across multiple genres, including music, to a broader audience. The acquisition of Fuse means we now own two wonderful assets. It's a phenomenal time for our company and we look forward to growing both networks in the years ahead.” SiTV has said both nets will continue to operate independently, and has not released any info on plans for Fuse (the deal should close between July 1 and Sept 30). Fuse has 73mln HHs–some nice real estate for Nuvo, with Nielsen estimates putting it in just 32mln homes. MSG announced in Sept that it had hired JP Morgan to explore options for Fuse, including a possible sale. SiTV and Nuvo CEO Michael Schwimmer said the deal enhances “distribution relationships, dramatically expands our aggregate subscriber base, provides substantial economies of scale, affords unique opportunities for programming and cross-promotion and should be extremely appealing to the advertising community.” While Nuvo will continue down its path of a destination for Latino entertainment overall, music will play a part. It already has weekly music program “The Collective, Powered by Vevo,” and intends to use Fuse's Seventh Ave street front studio in NYC. For SiTV Media, LionTree Advisors and Jefferies served as financial advisors and Greenberg Traurig and Goodwin Proctor served as counsel, while for MSG, JP Morgan served as financial advisor and Sullivan & Cromwell served as counsel.