The Weinstein Channel
Alledgedly seeking the first step towards the multimedia, multiplatform world they envisioned, the New York Post reported today that The Weinstein Company is in talks with Cablevision to acquire Fuse, its music video cable channel. Of course, the brothers Weinstein [Ed. note: the link is to Harvey because Wikipedia gives short shrift to Bob] are seeking more than a competitor to MTV, but rather a concrete step in their partnership with, who else, Cablevision's Rainbow Media subsidiary to "acquire low-budget movies for home-video release and television distribution."
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The Post was nice enough to attribute the story to Broadcasting and Cable which first reported the potential transaction. While pegged at $450 million, B&C does point out that "Fuse is the lowest-rated of the 60 basic-cable networks that are tracked by Nielsen. In a recent week, it averaged a minuscule 37,000 viewers in prime time." However, the cost and, more frankly, the ability to launch a new national cable network makes this backdoor entrance highly attractive.
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