When MTV Networks launched its college network MTVU two years ago, it scrapped traditional programming models in favor of short-form content.
Now the network, with a viewership of seven
million college students on 730 campuses, is streaming MTVU online around the clock. Dubbed MTVU Über, the online channel includes some ads that also run on TV. But the hope, says Stephen
Friedman, general manager, is that MTVU Über will be an ad laboratory for marketers targeting college students on cell phones, iPods, broadband, and other new platforms.
The network
recently partnered with Yahoo! on the new reality series "IMU: I Miss You," which follows three college couples trying to maintain a long distance relationship using only Yahoo! tools. Now, that's
integration.