Fuse Media Unveils AVOD Push and Streaming Restructure Ahead of 2021 Upfronts

Fuse Media is doubling down on delivering to blended households and young, Latinx and multicultural viewers. As cord-cutting accelerates and viewing hours increasingly favor streaming, the media company has built a new streaming division to do it. The media company, which is heading into its first upfront since becoming a Latino-owned and managed company in November, has rejiggered its organization to include a streaming unit that will bring together the company’s existing digital distribution channels, social media, OTT properties and Fuse.tv. The new division will be headed up by CEO Miguel Roggero and head of digital Patrick Courtney. Targeting adults 18-49 “It's really a combination of a lot of work that we have been doing over the last three to five years,” said ad sales chief Fernando Romero. “It's also helping us align our management with our content, as well as our audience. Because at the end of the day, we feel confidently that we could represent this audience because we are that audience.” The increased focus on streaming is part of Fuse's efforts to target adults in the key 18-34 and 18-49 demos wherever they may be watching. “The younger audiences have just been adopting different platforms," Romero said. "We want to put our content where our audience wants to be, and that has quickly become streaming." Streaming With the Enemy: How Connected TV Rivals Learned to Work Together Two new AVOD channels The streaming-centric expansion will begin this month with the launch of two new AVOD channels: Fuse Backstage and Fuse Sweat. Fuse Backstage focuses on music, including collections of music bios, performances, interview, films and specials. Fuse Sweat dives into the 1980s at-home fitness craze popularized by Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons. It also launches this month on Fuse's apps. The company is working on striking further carriage agreements. Fuse Backstage rolls out on March 24 and will be available on connected TV platforms including Samsung TV Plus and Vizio SmartCast, with more to come. Fuse Sweat launches this week on Fuse owned and operated apps, and on Vizio SmartCast. “We have had some presence over the last three years, just kind of dabbling with some content, an extension of our VOD,” Romero said. “But now with these two new brands, it's really putting a stamp on, branching out and creating unique environments that fall under the Fuse Media umbrella.” Fuse is planning additional ad-supported channels that will roll out later this year. Fuse continues to focus on its underserved audiences, and is heading into upfront talks this season with the tagline: “Fuse: Bringing Stories to Life That Reflect and Celebrate Our Blended America” The company aims to reach the majority of Americans under 50 living in blended households, and will offer to advertisers four new series and five returning series, as well as six additional series in development. On the branded content and events side, Fuse announced new partnerships with IPSY and Sofar Sounds, as well as renewing a partnership with Grand Park. IPSY, a beauty subscription company, will create digital and social content for Fuse’s upcoming original series Shine True, while the Sofar Sounds partnership works to create content around the brand’s virtual events that will be available across Fuse’s platforms. Increased diversity “Fuse has a deep-rooted history and legacy with music,” said Romero. “[Sofar Sounds] brings a global view of music to the table and kind of helps us differentiate and work with them with curated artists that we can bring to marketers.” Fuse has also renewed its core multiplatform diversity, equity and inclusion franchises Be Change and Future History. The company has announced a new initiative, Buy Small, which provides free social media promotions and 30-second streaming and TV spots to small businesses run by ethnically diverse, differently abled, LGBTQ and women owners. During last year’s upfront, Fuse was one of the few networks bringing new original content to the table, and Romeo stressed that the company's small size proved to be a strength. “Being a little bit smaller, independent and nimble, we were able to respond to the marketplace a little bit quicker, and [worked] with advertising partners and media agencies that needed some of that flexibility in terms of their media schedules,” he said. Heading into this year’s upfront, Romero acknowledged there will be a lot of competition, but he emphasized Fuse’s focus on authenticity and flexibility. “I think it's just going to be an important upfront for a lot of media partners," Romero said. “Media brands that .. bring something unique to the table [are] important, and I think Fuse has a lot to offer.” Roku Creates Branded Content Studio Following Record Ad Revenue