In April 2006, MTV Networks launched MTV Overdrive in the UK, the company’s first free online video-on-demand service. The service generates income through 15-second advertising spots, although viewers can fast-forward through them. Overdrive targets 16 to 35-year-olds by showing exclusive clips of MTV programmes such as ‘Punk’d’ and ‘Dirty Sanchez’ as well as news packages, movie trailers and music videos.
In March 2006, MTV Networks International signed a deal with T-Mobile to provide mobile TV content to T-Mobile subscribers across Europe. The programming was made available in Germany first, then Austria, and then in the UK. Subscribers have access to Nickelodeon animations like ‘Dora the Explorer’ and ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’, as well as channels including MTV Music and MTV Shorts. UK subscribers are also able to access classic comedy stand-up routines and clips from shows on Paramount Comedy. MTV Networks has partnerships with 63 mobile operators globally, including a deal, announced in July 2005, with Motorola to launch a service called MTV Load, part of a three-year, £43m, global partnership between the two companies.
In January 2006, MTV announced a restructure, that included cutting staff from its marketing and ad sales functions in New York and at its European headquarters in London. MTV stressed it would still be trading with media agencies and service advertisers at a pan-regional level and that the restructure would allow it to serve the needs of advertisers better and that flagship events, such as the MTV Europe Awards, would be unaffected.