Disney dumps its share of Fusion to Univision

‘Evergreen,’ a documentary on pot, aired earlier this week on Fusion.

When Disney and Univision launched Fusion, a joint cable news network targeting Hispanic Millennials, in the fall of 2013, they thought they’d figured out a way to deliver the young audience advertisers are so eager to reach.

They promised a heavy online element mixed with edgy editorial that they believed would draw in the adults 18-34 who are increasingly dependent on smartphones rather than remotes.

But in the two and a half years since, Fusion has struggled to gain ratings traction and Disney has grown impatient.

Thursday, months after rumors first surfaced that Disney was trying to unload its share of the venture, the two companies parted ways on the deal.

Fusion will continue with Univision, which is lumping it into a new group targeting Millennials called the Fusion Media Group. In addition to Fusion, it will include Univision’s stake in El Rey, The Root, The Onion, A.V. Club, Clickhole, Starwipe, Flama, Univision Digital and Univision Music

Disney had handled ad sales and distribution of Fusion, which is available in more than 40 million households.

Univision had overseen the editorial operations of the network, which it will continue to do, in addition to adding sales and distribution.

Terms of the unbinding were not released, but Univision said it would take on its new duties as soon as Disney has extricated itself fully from the deal.

Tags: cable, cable news, disney univision, fusion, millennials, univision, univision disney