Lots of TV networks have some online presence, and many of those have taken steps toward putting an appreciable amount of their regular video on their sites. Some have tried to develop complementary content so as to offer something special to keep viewers' attention.
But in terms of the breadth and sheer amount of content, and the evident attention paid to creating a tight online operation, there aren't many that match the ambition of MTV.com.
It's startling. For those of us who are old enough to remember, but young enough to have been paying attention, MTV gradually transformed from Music Television to Reality TV. MTV.com brings them both together, and adds a bunch on for good measure.
MTV didn't skimp on the "M." They advertise that they currently have more than 16,000 music videos--real, official videos--in their easily searchable database, which puts them in a league of their own. But that's just the flashy part; even a casual perusal of their pages shows an uncommon attention to detail. It all links together: music videos linking to lyrics, artist pages linking to photos and news about the artist, live performances, discography, and the link to the artist's website. You can even see what other videos the director has done.
That's saying nothing of the several dozen MTV Radio online stations, set up through a Rhapsody player. Rhapsody also invites users to buy songs from their MP3 store: if you like what you're hearing anywhere on the site, you can click the omnipresent Rhapsody link on the page and it will take you to search for what that artist has to offer.
They pull you in with free content, and if you want it "To Go," it's available for a small price. That, the MTV Shop, and the occasional ad are the only really visible ways that MTV is capitalizing on all that quality content.
MTV isn't just about the professionally produced content, either: it allows users to upload their own videos of live shows, as well as photos and text. And if the material is good, it might end up on the blog for the uploads section of the site (You R Here) or even on TV.
And that's only one of the five music-specific blogs run by MTV. They also have a newsroom blog as well as a blog for movies, another for comic book movies specifically (really), and one for video games. And the blogs aren't just tokens; they're all very frequently updated and they get the first shot at content from time to time (like newly released movie posters, or exclusive interviews).
Of course, that rule especially applies to the blog they run for their own (reality) TV shows. And MTV has individual pages and video for an obscene number of shows and specials. They have a page dedicated just to music from their TV shows. And they have mobile content for some of their most popular shows.
Then, MTV takes it a step further and holds it all together with a social network (as of this writing, the MTV community has over 570,000 people). Users can set up a simple profile which serves them on different parts of the site in different ways, like uploading content or joining a community.
All of this, along with a bunch of other content I can't possibly cover in a blog post, shows impressive attention to detail and a commitment to the online space as an integral part of their overall strategy and business model. It's a bold foray onto the web for an established content provider/creator. We're fans.
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