The 'American Idol' judge outbids her rapper ex in a war over Fuse Network, which has been acquired by J.Lo's NunoTV for $226 million.
- Apr 5, 2014
AceShowbiz - Jennifer Lopez has beat her ex-boyfriend Sean Combs a.k.a. P. Diddy in a war over TV network. NuvoTV, where J.Lo serves as chief creative officer and owns a minority stake, has acquired Fuse Network from Madison Square Garden Company for $226 million.
"Music is my first love so the acquisition of Fuse is near and dear to my heart," Lopez says 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," she adds.
The "American Idol" judge also tells Variety after the deal, "I saw it as a no-brainer,. I'm an English-speaking Latina myself. I want to take NuvoTV to the next level." The deal is expected to close between July 1 and September 1.
Combs, who recently announced that he would use his old name Puff Daddy for his new musical project, reportedly offered nearly $200 million for Fuse. He wanted to combine Fuse with his video channel, Revolt, to build a cable empire. Former Fuse chief Eric Sherman commented, "This is a real blow to Diddy and Revolt."
Lopez's manager Benny Medina previously said that NuvoTV had no immediate plans to change Fuse's format. "We do look at these channels as two different companies with two different identities, audiences and goals," he said. "And these shall remain intact."
