Multi-taskers will likely find a match made in heaven this summer when MTV launches a new initiative that will marry the programming being shown on TV with programming being streamed on its broadband channel, MTV Overdrive. Beginning in August with the MTV Video Music Awards and continuing in the fall with the Total Request Live (TRL), MTV will offer two simultaneous versions of each show, one on television and one online, according to the New York Times. Overdrive's online component will feature a kind of backstage digression that will continue to stream live while the television show is breaking for commercials. For example, if a viewer wants to take a backstage tour with an artist after they finish doing an interview on TRL, Overdrive will show them walking around backstage.

"We do tons of research on our audience, and it shows that they are instant messaging and listening to music and watching TV all at the same time," MTV President Christina Norman told the Times. "We've definitely seen them become more adept at navigating through multiple media. They live comfortably in several worlds at once."

MTV is already doing test runs of simultaneous production with separate sets of directors and producers guiding cameramen and VJs through the process. The network believes the new dual-screen experiment will be especially valuable when it broadcasts the Video Music Awards, which are set for August 31. "We will be able to capture so much of the behind-the-scenes backstage energy that no one would see otherwise," EVP Dave Sirulnick told the Times. "In addition, we can make use of a lot of the on-demand element on Overdrive — videos, red carpet arrivals and such."

It is not determined how often MTV will supplement TRL with a live feed on Overdrive. It could be every day or a few times a week, depending on audience demand. Plus, MTV has to figure out how advertisers will feel about an initiative that encourages television viewers to focus on the Internet when a commercial is running on television. Pamela Zucker, an SVP at advertising consultant firm MediaVest, said she believes that for MTV fans, there is nothing unnatural about watching a program simultaneously on both television and a computer. She thinks it provides potential benefits for advertisers. "For this audience at this time of day, it could be a plus," Zucker said of TRL viewers. "If it integrates the two experiences in a way that provides a benefit, I think there would be a way to enhance the experience for advertisers as well."