Fuse Launching 2 New AVOD Channels

Fuse Media will launch two new AVOD channels this month: Fuse Backstage and Fuse Sweat. Fuse Backstage focuses on music, with collections of music bios, performances, interview, films and specials. Fuse Sweat dives into the 1980s at-home fitness craze popularized by Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons. It also launches March 24 on Fuse’s apps.

Fuse is planning additional ad-supported channels that will roll out later this year.

The company became a Latino-owned and managed company in November, and Fuse has plans to target that growing audience with upcoming services. “At the end of the day, we feel competently that we could represent this audience because we are that audience,” said ad sales chief Fernando Romero.

When ownership changed late last year, CEO Miguel “Mike” Roggero planted a flag on the mission to support an audience that is too often overlooked. “At a time when millions of Americans of all races and ethnicities are calling for more representation and servicing of underserved communities, the Fuse Media management team is taking ownership of its collective destiny. Literally. Only through ownership can Latino and other minorities reach our true potential,” Roggero said.

“The younger audiences have just been adopting different platforms,” Romero said. “We want to put our content where our audience wants to be, and that has quickly become streaming.”

Fuse has had a long and winding road since it debuted as MuchMusic USA in 1994. It relaunched as Fuse in 2003, doubling down on music with an aim to capture the MTV audience alienated after the channel left music videos behind. The company merged with NuvoTV in 2015, but filed for bankruptcy in 2019. New ownership hopes to resurrect the brand with a stronger focus on that growing Latino population.

Fuse is available on Sling TV, Fubo TV and AT&T TV Now. You can also find the Fuse app on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.