Comcast’s pay TV subscribers woke up on New Year’s Day with two fewer channels in their programming packages.
On January 1, Comcast removed two Fuse Media-owned channels from their Xfinity TV platform across the country, leaving customers without access to the flagship Fuse channel and music video network FM (Fuse Music).
The companies have a history of being at odds over the distribution of the channels, with Comcast regularly touting the low viewership of Fuse and FM when the networks are dropped. They were last removed from Comcast’s Xfinity TV systems in 2018, only to reappear in 2021 as part of a distribution agreement that also included Fuse Plus, which remains available on Comcast’s X1 and Xumo devices.
Cablefax was the first to report that Comcast had dropped the Fuse Media channels.
“Our agreement for Fuse TV and FM has expired, and we no longer have the rights to carry these channels, so they are no longer available,” a Comcast spokesperson told the publication.
It wasn’t clear from the statement or the report if Fuse and Comcast had tried to negotiate toward a new agreement before the channels were dropped last Wednesday. Fuse TV offers rebroadcasts of TV series like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Malcolm in the Middle” and “My Wife and Kids,” along with original series like “Sex Sells” and “Upcycle Nation.”
Fuse TV remains available to access on a national basis through Dish Network, Sling TV, DirecTV via Satellite, DirecTV via Internet, DirecTV Stream and Fubo.
