MTV Overdrive is a free Broadband Video Channel brought to you by MTV.com offering content such as:
• MY VMAs: My VMAs features a wide range of exclusive Video Music Awards content. Follow Diddy the week leading up to the big event, catch intimate performances, see all of the latest bling, from cars to yachts, and all of the events that transpire on the red carpet. After the event ends, we’ll post the entire show online. You’ll be able to mix and match all of the content to create your own personal VMA experience.
• MUSIC: The Music channel features a wide variety of programming to suit anyone’s taste, including exclusive programming like • MTV.com LIVE and First Ladies. Plus, check out special programming, MTV shows and a library of the hottest Pop, Rock, Hip-Hop, R&B and Indie music videos.
• MOVIES: Interviews with your favorite stars, behind the scenes footage, hot news on the best movies, it’s all on MTV Overdrive.
• ON TV: Catch up on Laguna Beach, Real World, MADE, Wild Boyz, Punk’d, TRL, Meet The Barkers and more of your favorite MTV shows.
Mac users who visit MTV Overdrive are presented with the following:
In order to offer a broad selection of full-length music videos on-demand and free of charge, MTV Overdrive uses Windows Digital Rights Management (DRM) to protect videos from unauthorized re-distribution.
Unfortunately, Microsoft’s Windows Media Player Plug-in for Macintosh does not support Windows DRM. If DRM support becomes available for Macintosh, MTV will develop a version of MTV Overdrive that works on a Mac.
MTV Overdrive’s feedback form is located at the bottom of this page: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/about/faq.jhtml
MacDailyNews Take: Companies and the advertisers that support them would do well to realize that Mac users greatly appreciate feature-parity support, have a much larger installed base than the oft-misused quarterly market share “3-5%” figure, and that studies show studies that Mac users tend to be better educated and make more money than Windows PC users and therefore have more disposable income to spend.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
16-percent of computer users are unaffected by viruses, malware because they use Apple Macs – June 15, 2005
Survey shows Apple Macs owned by nearly 10 percent of US small and medium-sized businesses – February 17, 2005
More people use Apple Macs than you think; 8-12 percent of homes use Macs – March 31, 2004
10 percent of computer users use a Mac; 3 percent is Mac’s approximate quarterly market share – February 10, 2004
Syracuse Post-Standard: 3 percent is a false stat; Mac holds ’10 to 12 percent of the market for PCs – August 27, 2003
The videos on MTV Overdrive are encoded using the Microsoft Windows Media 9 codec to ensure the maximum possible video quality.
Never heard of h.264, have you.. MTV??
MTV should be called UnRTV (UnReality Television). But I guess in a Cable Universe where A & E has no Arts or Entertainment, Discovery has no discovery, The Travel Channel has no travel, ‘News’ channels have little real news and The History Channel has no history– a ‘music channel with no music is par for the course. MTV Networks is nothing but a street pimp for the RIAA member companies.
Now let’s be fair. They’re also excluding every browser except IE. So it’s not so much EXCLUDING Macs as it is exclusively SUPPORTING the soup-to-nuts Microsoft experience. PC + Windows + IE + WMV. But “No special software is required.”
From the FAQ:
Why can’t I use MTV Overdrive in my Firefox / Mozilla browser?
=====================
MTV Overdrive takes advantage of special features only available in the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser (Version 5.5 or higher). These features are not currently supported by Firefox / Mozilla, but MTV is working to develop a version of MTV Overdrive that will work with Firefox / Mozilla browsers.
=====================
MDN: you may consider being less liberal with the “Mac users are better educated and make more money” article. It could _easily_ be seen as eletism.
Certainly MTV would benefit from having that demographic reaching its advertisers, however, also know the reasons why that study found what it did. It isn’t that using a Mac causes people to be better educated and wealtier, it is that education causes wealth and wealth provides access to permium items, of which we know Apple Macs to be. As the price of Macs gets lower and lower, that study’s findings will no longer apply. Witness the $50 iBook fiasco.
MDN: they
It’s not the codec (there’s a [terrible] Windows Media Player for Mac) – it’s the DRM, which is not supported by the OSX player.
Anyone tried it in Virtual PC?
–Rob
I hate to say it, but MTV sucks and has sucked since it went to a commercialized broadcasting format. The only good things to come out of MTV has been Beavis & Butthead and probably Jackass. Everything else just SUCKS!
>MDN wrote: and that studies show studies that Mac users tend to be better educated and make more money than Windows PC users and therefore have more disposable income to spend.
Ahhh… I almost get it. It’s the studies of the studies that make Mac users smarter.
>MDN wrote: and that studies show studies that Mac users tend to be better educated and make more money than Windows PC users and therefore have more disposable income to spend.
Ahhh… I almost get it. It’s the studies of the studies that make Mac users smarter.
>MDN wrote: and that studies show studies that Mac users tend to be better educated and make more money than Windows PC users and therefore have more disposable income to spend.
Ahhh… I almost get it. It’s the studies of the studies that make Mac users smarter.
mtv.com is like yahoo.com… most of the crap doesn’t work on a mac.
MTV has sucked for 15 years at least now, so who give a rats
MW ‘clearly’ as in, clearly the people at MTV have no clue.
Gee, Apple can have a DRM in iTunes which works on Macs and PCs while Micro$hit can’t make a DRM which works with WMP on both Macs and PCs…. surprise, surprise, surprise…..
MW trouble – as in “Trouble is Microshaft doesn’t give a $hit about other platforms”
No big loss to me there. I remember when MTV was really cool, worthwhile. Now it’s a scruffy lot running around, jerking like they are having some kind of fit, yellin’, cussin’ and hollerin’! (The girls look good though!)
You fellas can complain to MTV and get them to change if you want, but from what I’ve seen of the content of late it’s not fit for sane folks to watch anyway.
So say we all!
MTV has no content I care to watch anymore, so I really don’t care if I could watch it on my Mac or not. Simply put, I won’t.
MTV? Where have I heard of that before? Oh yeah, it was a really cool channel back in the 80’s, but it stopped playing music videos many years ago and became an avenue to tell people what was cool and hip. Uh, are they still around?…
Eddy is right to mention H.264 but MTV doesn’t care about quality anymore than companies record your phone calls “for quality of service” purposes. They do care about protecting their material.
They chose poorly.
A number of appropriate letters to them certainly won’t hurt.
Don’t worry. The Apple Video Store is coming very soon. First products will be Music Videos. More content to follow. You’ll see it announced with iTunes 5.0 at Apple Expo Paris in September.
The funny thing is that Windows is so porous that I’m sure that the video content will be copied and redistributed. But anyway, why don’t the idiot developers look for other options besides Windows Media? Lazy.
I knew this was going to happen. The writing was on the wall when they stopped putting Macs in the “Real World” houses!
Seriously though, I agree that the content isn’t anything I care about anymore, but it’s the principle. I’ll probably never patent anything either but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to sit by and let these places ruin the internet. The internet is supposed to be accessible by anyone using any standards compliant browser on any platform. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Microsoft doesn’t ever own the internet.
Hmmm, so they want to DRM it. Is there an equivalent DRM for quicktime that they could use? I am not aware of one and if there isn’t that is probably something that should be available for just such cases as this.
Isn’t it strange that people keep bitching about Apple not opening it’s fairplay DRM, while on the other hand MAC users can’t use Rapsody, Sony-connect, Napster or the MS-DRM. So if it wasn’t for Apple, we’d be f*ck*d. And there is no sign this will change in the near future.
If I was Jobs I’d open up fairplay for licensing. Price: 200 Dollar per device sold.
I have experienced first-hand how MS corporate advisors (that is, advisors that MS sends to your company) do their job when they come to your company to explain why Windoze is the only possible choice, and specifically state that Apple products are not viable in the long term, without giving any specific reasons why. It is an understatement to say that the guy that came to our company was no less than a little MS Nazi. He literally ranted and raved for 45 minutes about nothing specific except the power of Windoze and the need to be a Windoze only work place. At that time I was the only hard core Mac user in the room, but the presentation was so over-the-top that even some of the IT folks and dept. managers were in a mild state of shock, and admitted as much to me after the meeting was over.
With the iPod on the loose and real value market share for Apple and all of its products stronger than its ever been, and rising, its clear that these little MS propaganda guys are going full steam at every corporation in America right now. As I monitor the severe weather in the southern US this morning I note with interest that even big news providers like CNN, and The Weather Channel that use to support QT, no longer do.
The freedom to “really” choose was also quietly narrowed when Bank of America stopped supporting bill pay using Quicken for Mac directly to B of A, (as opposed to using Quicken Bill Pay which IS still supported for Mac). What’s the difference? As a B of A customer I would not have to pay for using bill pay through Quicken, but there is a monthly fee for using Quicken Bill Pay. To the best of my knowledge Windoze users are still able to pay their bills directly through B of A using Quicken.
Even from a non-Apple bias I view this as a real commercial travesty for the consumer. Yes we’re able to buy any computer and OS we want to, but this weird sort of service oriented pay-olla makes people think twice because they may not be able to interact with the plethora of online services that are becoming more available on the internet.
Apple, admirably, appeals directly to the consumer, but the financial power, politically, commercially, and socially of the real world, more and more lies in the corporate realm, nationally and globally, and MS has a big head start.
Apple is doing a great job marketing to the consumer, maybe it needs to do more behind the corporate scene to ensure that its products continue to be supported equally with MS products especially with regard to internet delivered services above and beyond music and entertainment media.
Wow. I figured MTW went they way of the dodo. SO last century. The fact that they’re still around is a testiment to . . . uh, well . . . hmm.
Windows DRM is the only game in town when it comes to protecting video content on a computer. If Mac users want commercial content, we need to make sure Apple stays on the ball in offering these protections to content producers. FairPlay and iTMS saved the online music business from catastrophe, but Microsoft seems to have learned more from that experience than Apple. Now Apple, and thus Mac users, have to play serious catch-up in the video arena.
Unfortunately it’s the same thing at VH1.com. I don’t get it — is there ANY mac DRM solution now?
Take a minute to complain — it never hurts to keep the complaints coming and maybe someone will wake up.
MTV feedback (bottom of page)
http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/about/faq.jhtml
VH1 Feedback
http://www.vh1.com/vspot/feedback.jhtml
I’m with you Sam. I really think the time is right for Apple to start licensing FairPlay to content providers only. The market is broadening, and I think it’s getting vitally important to make certain that AAC and FairPlay becomes the standard. Furthermore, they should develop FairPlay for use in video for things like this MTV deal.
I truly believe we’re getting close to a crossroads where Apple is going to have to make a billion dollar decision.
If there is no Mac DRM solution for this perhaps we should be complaining to Apple and not to MTV.
I hope that Apple has something in the works with a video iPod and viable DRM for video. They have to make sure some version is available to content producers like MTV also tho and not have it only be for the video pod.
This reminds me of the recent news about libraries having to only offer WMV files for audiobooks because of a lack of a DRM they can license. Apple has keep a close eye on these developments and make sure that they stay on top of things so M$ doesn’t flank them.
Put that in your Mac-N-Trash and Smoke it.
mw (Value) How ironic…
I sent them a very nice and polite email asking how a “music television network” could exclude *THE* platform that artists and musicians use in writing, recording, playing – hell – PERFORMING their music. Anyone see Duran Duran in concert? There’s a 15″ Powerbook next to the keyboard for all to see.
I agree with the other posters – they went for the easy way out – windows + IE + WinDRM.
No thanks, I’ll go watch something else.
MW = “most” as in “most disappointing”
The real problem with DRM is that it has been developed and promoted to prevent a problem that was never a serious issue at the level it’s used for.
Revenue loss due to piracy at the consumer level. The loss of revenue due to occasional consumer level copying is negligible compared to what occurs at the organized criminal level, where DRM implementation efforts have had little, if any, effect.
Not a single consumer end user really wants DRM, but a lot of us are willing to put up with it’s aggravations. It really is unnecessary for the most part.
The Dude does not even watch MTV when he is stoned out of his gored anymore. There are no music videos, only dumb shows. I have to pay to get into the “Family Tier” on Charter Cable to get music videos. MTV has be sold out for about 17 years the way I see it. the mid-late 80’s started the decay.
I love the post from “Viacom Killed MTV Years Ago…” it makes me think about Chris Rock talking about David Blaine being a “trickles Magician”. But it is all to true…. MTV plays music videos when hardly anyone is watching… like 3 am – 5 am. VH1 sold out too… and they used to be more “adult” content… more Phil Collins, Dave Matthews Bands and stuff like that. Now they play Eminem, Snoop and heavy metal. Don’t get me wrong, Eminem and Snoop are in heavy rotation in my car CD player, but it seems like they have missed what they set out to do… be the Anti-MTV and play music; music that is more conservative.
The Dude now just downloads music videos from Acquisition that he likes. Once iTunes states offering music videos for more artists as a pay for download I will be on that bus.
For now…
The Dude abides
Not that I really want to watch anything on Mtv,,,, I did fill out their feedback form. Very dumb on their part not to be cross platform, I have sent feedback to many major media company that only have windows support. This is what I wrote.
There will never be a mac version of windows digital rights codec, therefore I will never use this service. Very bad move on your part to use microsoft products, (to provide videos of all things) since microsofts support of other platforms is poor at best. There are more people out here you are shuting out than you think (not just mac users, linux ones too). Dump this crummy windows only service and develop a cross platform one to replace it.
frankly, storage (eg hard disk space or even video tape) is going to have to be considerably cheaper and smaller AND download speeds are going to have to be considerably higher for a reasonable price for individuals to download mass amounts of video for theeir own use or for any possible profit.
I’ve stopped collecting video knowing that there is very little out there worth watching that I can’t get on DVD for rent. I no longer want to own everything – books included. I’ll borrow from the library and be quite happy doing pay-per-view for movies.
I will soon be the proud owner of a new 32″ LCD HD-TV and would still be happy with streamedor rented stuff.
I’d rather deal with bits than hunks of plastic any day.
> MTV excludes Mac users with free ‘Overdrive’ Broadband Video Channel>
Best news I’ve heard all day.
MTV SUCKS!!
I hate this channel more than anything. Not only do they hardly show music videos, the music videos they do show are crap. Good Charlotte and 50 Cents suck monkey ass. And the shows are for brain-dead morons. I can’t stand MTV.
MTV is the FOX NEWS CHANEL of the music world.
MTV overdrive isn’t too hot. The video quality is no at all “Top-notch. It tries though.
I think it pathetic how you basicaly can’t be bother to address this issue with mac and mtv overdrive!!!!!
its annoying sort it out!