MTV goes to war with Fuse
David
MTV MAKES OFFER THEY CAN'T RE-FUSE
By TIM ARANGO
December 17, 2003 -- MTV is taking notice of upstart rival music
channel Fuse.
Fuse, a 24-hour music video channel owned by Cablevision's Rainbow
Media, has slowly been garnering buzz within the music industry this
year for doing what critics say MTV has strayed from: airing a
constant flow of music videos.
"It's a refreshing change of pace that you have this new channel that
will offer a healthy dose of competition to the world of music
videos," said one music industry executive.
But while Fuse is still an ant compared with its giant rival, MTV has
lately been playing a behind-the-scenes game of hardball - using its
clout to steer artists away from Fuse, according to music industry
sources.
For one thing, MTV has long had deals with music labels that allow the
network to pay a fee to lock up exclusivity on videos to keep them off
the airwaves on other networks. MTV, sources say, has lately been
exercising its exclusivity rights more often.
For example, MTV has locked up exclusivity on many popular videos
recently - including ones by Linkin Park, Puddle of Mudd, P.O.D. and
Beyonce, sources say. While record labels collect a fee for this,
music industry execs say that not being able to air the videos
simultaneously on Fuse hurts the labels' ability to market their
artists.
A spokesperson for MTV said the network decides on exclusivity "based
on audience tastes and wants, not based on what another network may or
may not be doing."
Marc Juris, president of Fuse, told The Post, "I'm from the Bronx, and
this feels like a good old-fashioned turf war. We feel like 50 Cent -
been shot nine times but we're still singing."
But the battle extends beyond videos. Just last week, Linkin Park, a
band signed to Warner Bros. Records, bowed out of a deal with Fuse
that would have had the network sponsor its upcoming tour after MTV
intervened, according to music industry sources.
Sources close to the situation say that Linkin Park first offered the
sponsorship to MTV, but the network declined. The band then began
negotiating with Fuse, and a deal was close at hand before MTV stepped
in and made it known that such a sponsorship with Fuse would hurt the
band's relationship with MTV, according to sources.
An MTV spokesperson denied this, saying, "We did not ask any band or
artist to decline tour sponsorships."
MTV has also reacted negatively toward artists who have appeared on
Fuse shows to promote new albums before they appeared on MTV, sources
say.
For example, MTV was outraged last month when Blink-182 went on Fuse
first, sources say.
Fuse, formerly called muchmusic usa, was relaunched under the new name
in May.
It is on the air in 34 million homes in the country, and has deals
with DirecTV, EchoStar and most major cable operators except Comcast,
the nation's largest. It is currently in negotiations with Comcast
about a carriage agreement.
MTV is owned by media giant Viacom, which also owns music channel VH1
and Black Entertainment Television, which also airs music videos.
Araxen
Fuse is a so much better channel than mtv2. I used to love to watch mtv2
but then all of a sudden it went to hell. Thank god Fuse came along it's
an awesome channel.
Hopefully Mtv locks up all the rap videos so I can see more
rock/alternative ones on Fuse.