Millions to miss out on Funny or Die’s “Billy on the Street” due to Time Warner Cable spat with MSG

The new TV show from Funny or Die that’s part game show, part hilarious spontaneous prank show on unsuspecting pedestrians — aka Billy on the Street — will debut tonight on Fuse. The cable network has spread advertising throughout New York City. And yet, most New Yorkers won’t get to see the series premiere tonight.

That’s because Time Warner Cable, by far the dominant cable player in NYC, dropped Fuse earlier this month as part of a larger dispute with the cable channel’s owners, Madison Square Garden. Fuse’s studios/offices are located across the street from the Garden along Seventh Avenue. Time Warner Cable is threatening to drop the MSG sports channel as of New Year’s, and running commercials telling its cable customers to implore upon the Dolan family owned MSG networks to capitulate to TWC’s demands. You can read MSG’s side of the case here. The sudden loss of Fuse also leaves millions of viewers without “Hoppus on Music,” the weekly show hosted by former Blink 182 frontman Mark Hoppus that featured comedian Amy Schumer as his sidekick and several opportunities for comedians to appear on-air in different segments.

If you want to know how to find Fuse in your area, click here.

Here’s the latest promotional teaser, in case you missed earlier ones. It looks fantastic, as pedestrians don’t know what’s hitting them when Billy and the camera crew immediately offer them money just to offer up their opinions on current events and pop culture. Roll it.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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