• The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required), Thursday, August 17, 2006 12:31 PM

MTV is making its biggest multi-platform attempt yet to get this year's MTV Video Music Awards in front of as many teens as possible. The Aug. 31 awards show will be broadcast on MTV, while sibling MTV2 airs its own version. Web site MTV Overdrive will feature a backstage view of the show, as mtvU on college campuses airs a college-themed version. MTV will also send updates to cell phone users who sign up for wireless content.. "Clearly, our audience is consuming entertainment across multiple platforms, so it is no puzzle to us that we have to increase that," says Christina Norman, president of MTV. First-time sponsor J.C. Penney is using the event to highlight its back-to-school ad campaign. Its sponsorship includes an online contest offering a chance to win a trip to MTV studios and post a video diary of the experience on MTV Overdrive. Sponsorships of $4 million to $7 million are available only to advertisers that commit spending $11 million with MTV during the coming season. PepsiCo is running an online karaoke-themed contest where fans record themselves singing award-nominated songs, then upload the video to a VMA Web site. Other participating marketers are General Motors' Chevrolet, Yum Brands' Taco Bell and Johnson & Johnson's Acuvue.

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