Beginning with the popular Video Music Awards on Aug. 31, MTV will stream alternative versions of live programming in an effort to offer its Web-savvy audience a more panoramic view of events. For
example, while the VMA show is live on the air, MTV's broadband channel, called Overdrive, will carry live backstage video, interviews with arriving guests, and so forth. MTV has also announced it
will stream alternative video from the set of its popular "Total Request Live" show beginning in the fall. "Our audience has embraced the online video revolution and we felt it was time to create
companion broadband programming that is unique and exists simultaneous to the linear television experience," says Dave Sirulnick, executive vice president, MTV Multi-Platform Production, News and
Music. "The live MTV Overdrive companion programs for TRL and the VMAs will enhance the experience for our audience by creating an entirely new level of connection to these established shows." All
sounds like your standard corporate-exec blather, except that, in this case, Sirulnick has a point: the Overdrive initiative will afford fans of selected MTV shows a richer view of what's actually
taking place away from the spotlights.
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