Madison Square Garden to Sell Fuse Cable TV Network

Madison Square Garden Company, the sports and entertainment company that owns the namesake arena in Manhattan, is looking to sell its music-TV channel Fuse.

"We have been approached by certain parties expressing interest in Fuse and have retained JPMorgan to explore all strategic alternatives," the company said. Fuse could be worth $300 million to $400 million in a sale, said Amy Yong, an analyst at Macquarie Group, who has the equivalent of a buy rating on MSG shares. Selling Fuse would let the company's TV business focus on its more lucrative sports networks, which carry New York Knicks and Rangers games. The music channel, which reaches about 64 million households, competes with networks such as Viacom's MTV and VH1 and Mark Cuban's AXS TV, not to mention increasingly powerful music platforms on the web such as Vevo. Fuse charges pay-TV providers about 6 cents per month per customer, according to research firm SNL Kagan.