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A Day in the Life: Fuse's Robert Weiss

Having a hearty selection of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart on one's iPod is certainly nothing to be ashamed of, but if you are head of entertainment at pop music channel Fuse it might not be the sort of thing you'd want to leak to your viewers. But we're here to do the leaking: Robert Weiss loves classical music.

The website for Fuse, topped by the banner "One Nation Under Music," says the network's audience shares a "passion for emerging bands and top-selling artists." Weiss shares that passion, but would a show by the Ying Yang Twins lure him to the Great Lawn in New York's Central Park on a sticky July evening? Perhaps.

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But we know he's willing to sweat it out for the New York Philharmonic. On short notice, Weiss invited a group of friends to join him in the park for an all-Dvorak program and a picnic of delicacies picked up at Whole Foods.

"It's all about the food," said Weiss, who wore a Bob Dylan T-shirt to the concert, hardly a nod to an "emerging band." We munched on pesto tortellini, chickpea salad and prosciutto while a recording of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" played on the P.A. system. Weiss listed classical as "a guilty pleasure," and claimed to also enjoy country music and heavy metal. Classical, he said, is more relaxing. "I can lose myself in it. The only thing is I keep forgetting who I'm listening to. I'm better recalling a specific song from Coldplay or Missy Elliott than I am recalling Bach."

Finally, New York Philharmonic music director Lorin Maazel took the podium and led the orchestra through the "Carnival" Overture. Weiss snapped pictures of his friends, none of whom had met before. They included Andrew, a software developer; Janice, a former TV Guide writer who hit the best-seller lists last year with The Botox Diaries; and Momosa, a speechwriter turned screenwriter. "I pride myself on having an eclectic group of friends," Weiss said. "It's great that they do different things and do them successfully. Keeps me on my toes."

Rain fell during "Cello Concerto in B Minor," but it wasn't enough to drive Weiss and Co. away.

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A Day in the Life: Fuse's Robert Weiss

Cable World, August 8, 2005

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