One of the former leaders of MTV sees a new need for TV that gives viewers information about music
Andy Schuon picked much of the music that was seen on the landmark cable network in the early to mid 1990s, and now he is helping to craft a TV venture that will give audiences a new daily schedule of programs about music, as well as concerts.
“We used to wait for Casey Kasem to tell us during our weekends what the top songs were,” says Andy Schuon, who was named president of AXS TV and HDNet Movies in April. “Today, there something happening every second, with a post on TikTok or, quite often, an artist dropping a record at midnight on Spotify of Apple, before the rest of the world even knows about it.” He hopes music aficionados will get into the habit of watching AXS TV to keep tabs on the sector.
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But the executive believes there’s plenty of interest in the topic even as some mainstays tied to it have pulled back. MTV rarely plays up its musical roots, and Pitchfork’s ambitions have been trimmed by its owner, Conde Nast.
“Music moves at the speed of social media today, and it has never been a bigger part of the conversation in our lives — not just for young people, but even in the 35+ demo,” says Schuon, who notes the chatter might include the next artist or band to play the Sphere or the business of a concert tour by Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo. He plans to introduce a new slate of daily programming that focuses on music and news. Documentaries and original series are also being envisioned, he says during an interview.
AXS, once known simply as HDNet, has a long history with showing concerts and musical documentaries. Once led by entrepreneur Mark Cuban, the cable outlet, which launched in 2001, tried to distinguish itself by showing events, series, an original news program led by Dan Rather and an eclectic array of repeats in high-definition. As more cable networks took up HD broadcasting, the network lost its main point of advantage, cut cultivated an audience with performances and professional wrestling. Anschutz Entertainment Group, Ryan Seacrest, and CAA bought stakes in the venture in 2012 and renamed it with the current moniker. Anthem Sports & Entertainment bought a majority interest in AXS in 2019.
AXS will start to broaden out its advertising base with the hire of Brian Doherty, recently an executive vice president of multi-platform ad sales at the CW. Doherty will take on the role of president of ad sales for both AXS TV and HDNet Movies. In the past, AXS has relied on contributions from its owners to fill its commercial breaks, and now, says Schuon, it will seek to broaden its support on Madison Avenue. Doherty’s “relationships at the agency and brand level will really help us,” he adds.
Schuon says he understands the significant problems faced by cable and satellite carriers in the era of streaming, but believes his two outlets can thrive by developing a community around a specific topic. Many linear networks “have become general-entertainment networks, and to me, the real way forward today is to stay in your lane and to have a lane. Many of these general-entertainment networks can’t get back there.” He believes AXS and HDNet Movies have “room to grow.”