MTV phases out Overdrive

MTV Networks International is phasing out its online broadband channel MTV Overdrive.

Mike Salmi, president, MTV Networks Global Digital Media, told TBIvision.com that the online music video site was "impenetrable" by internet search engines, thus reducing the amount of traffic the site recorded.

"Overdrive is still around but we’re phasing it out," said Salmi.

MTV launched Overdrive in April 2005 as part of its international roll out of digital services to be its main programming portal, consisting of six online channels, for music videos, film trailers, celebrity news and interviews. The site launched in Australia in May 2007, meaning it was live in 11 countries.

However, recently MTV has concentrated its online focus on its main MTV.com site, which streams over 85million videos a month, and the Viacom-owned company has inked a number of distribution deals with mobile operators such as Vodafone, streaming services such as AOL Video and Joost and Apple’s iTunes.