Fuse, Cox Go Star-Hunting

Cox Communications Inc. became the first company on board with Fuse’s “Light the Fuse on Your Music Career” initiative.

The promotion is aimed at discovering the next music-video star for Fuse’s video-on-demand service. The network and the MSO have co-branded a group page on MySpace.com (www.myspace.com/fuse) where musicians can submit their videos.

Judges from Fuse and Deep Focus -- the integrated-marketing company that developed the promotion -- will then select five finalists to be posted on the contest site beginning Nov. 7, after which surfers will have one week to vote for their favorites.

Finally, beginning Nov. 15, the winning video will be featured and promoted on Fuse On-Demand, Cox’s broadband-music-video site and MySpace.

“Fuse’s viewers are the most tech-savvy in cable television,” Fuse senior vice president of distribution Joe Glennon said in a prepared statement. “They experience the brand across several platforms, including TV, online and interactively via messaging from their computer or phones. This audience is the early adapters and, as a result, difficult to target via traditional techniques.”