He characterizes the Fuse audience as "the outcasts, the kids in
the background of every yearbook photo," but as the channel
broadens its appeal and visibility, that description may be
changing. The kids in the studio at the Franz Ferdinand performance
and at
Daily Download don't particularly seem like freaks
and geeks. They seem like, well, kids. Fuse may have begun as the
anti-MTV, but at this point, they might as well call themselves the
anti-WB. The stations share an audience, yes, but they don't do the
same thing. "MTV is a lifestyle channel," says Pereyra, who also
hosts
Hip-Hop Confidential. "They're good at that. But what
we do is different."
"There's no antiestablishment voice at MTV," says Mullen. "They
are the establishment. Our audience is very sophisticated
about that stuff."
There is something of a community-access vibe at Fuse, although
you wouldn't know that from the roster of names who have stopped
by, including
Gwen Stefani,
Kanye West,
Green Day, Coldplay,
Eminem, and My Chemical Romance. Another Fuse show,
7th Avenue
Drop, has hosted the Strokes,
Foo Fighters, and Fall Out Boy.
Other Fuse shows include
d'Fused, a music-documentary
series, and
Empire Square, a
South Park-type cartoon
about a band of young musicians, created by former EMI UK
executives Anthony Cauchi and Lloyd Salmons and ex-Blur drummer
Dave Rowntree. But at its heart, Fuse is a fan's channel, the
television equivalent of liner notes and box sets. It has all the
little extras - the videos, the interviews, the commentary, the
behind-the-scenes footage - the things you don't have to have but,
man, do you really want.