DIVERSE SLATE SPANS MANY GENRES INCLUDING LIVE AFTERNOONS, SPORTS, REALITY, FASHION, COMEDY AND ANIMATION
NEW PROGRAMMING DIRECTION DRIVES FOUR NEW HIT SHOWS IN Q1
MTV: NUMBER ONE RATED FULL-DAY AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORK FOR P12-24
THE HILLS RETURNS THIS FALL WITH MORE EPISODES
New York, NY (April 28, 2009) — With more top 10 shows for P12-34 than any other network (four out of ten), MTV has announced a diverse new programming slate including nine new shows and five returning series. Genres include reality, fashion, sports, comedy, animation and a live afternoon show that embraces the active habits of the social networking generation. The network's 2009 programming slate continues to reflect a directional shift geared toward the millennial generation, with shows that are aspirational, escapist and optimistic.
"There's a palpable generational shift in attitudes that's informing a new point of view as we develop content and the brand. The change in our audience is reflected in new formats, tonal voices and storytelling cadence," said Tony DiSanto, head of programming for MTV. "Millennials have a great sense of optimism and are filled with a 'can do' spirit that's infused into all areas of their lives. Just as we've shifted with our audience in the past, we're now embracing a new brand filter … one that inspires us to break boundaries, bust our mold, and reinvent."
"Change is in MTV's DNA and this generation is demanding their own MTV," said Stephen Friedman, General Manager, MTV. "Because they expect more of themselves — they also expect more of us. Whether it's escapism, aspirational reality or comedy, they've demanded that we raise the bar. That's what Tony and his team have done with our new slate of programming."
– MTV has been the number one rated full day ad-supported cable network
P12-24 for 16 straight years. The network's ratings were up in first
quarter, having launched four new hits including Nitro Circus, Rob
Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, Daddy's Girls and The City. The network was
#1 in prime time (8-11pm) across cable on Wednesday and Thursday
nights for P12-34 during the runs of America's Best Dance Crew and
Real World. MTV's Sunday night block of programming geared toward
young men, tripled its ratings in its time period (9-11PM). During
its first season, Nitro Circus was #1 in its 10-10:30PM time period
among M12-24, even outperforming broadcast.
MTV SERIES GREENLIGHTS:
– THE ALEXA CHUNG SHOW [working title]: A one-hour, daily, live
entertainment show that our viewers help to create, taking viewer
interaction to a new level, making them the stars of the program.
Hosted by smart and witty British television personality and model
Alexa Chung, the program will include celebrity guests, musical
performances, and the best of the web. The Alexa Chung Show brings
MTV's always-on audience together with Twitter's instantaneous
feedback ability. In keeping with the real-time nature of the show,
Twitter will enable the audience to interact with Alexa, celebrity
talent, their own friends and the rest of the pop culture loving world
on the spot, and in the show. Whether Alexa's audience is at home, on
the move or on the set, Twitter and MTV will capture their experiences
and bring them right into the show. Additionally, the RockYou Live
video sharing application will let users submit their favorite viral
videos and videos they shoot themselves to the show. Fans of The Alexa
Chung Show will be able to constantly communicate with the show even
when it's not on air. Alexa's network of friends are always doing
things that matter and now with Twitter and RockYou they'll be able to
constantly keep in touch. Alexa is a brand new face to the U.S.
audience — and a new voice for MTV. Executive Producers: Tim Healy,
Sebastian Scott. Executive Producers: Howard T. Owens and Mark Koops
(Reveille).
– THE BURIED LIFE: The real life adventure of four young men on an
epic quest to prove that anyone can do anything. With cameras
rolling, Duncan, Ben, Jonnie and Dave set out with a list of 100
dreams: everything from kissing Rachel McAdams to Getting in the
Guinness Book of World Records. But they also made a promise to
themselves … for every goal they achieve on their list, they help a
stranger do something on theirs. This series explores the exciting
wonders of human potential and the exhilaration of going after one's
dreams — those dreams too often buried by everyday life. It's all in
the question: "What do you want to do before you die?" Executive
Producers: Howard T. Owens (Reveille); Mark Koops (Reveille); Adam
Paul. Co-Executive Producers: Noah Oppenheim (Reveille), Jared Tobman
(Reveille), Dave Lingwood, Ben Nemtin, Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn.
Executive Consultant: Jan Coleman.
– DJ AND THE FRO: MTV brings animation back to the network with DJ and
the Fro. It's Beavis and Butthead for the Millennial generation. DJ
and the Fro work for a big corporation — though they aren't sure
exactly what the company does. Aimed at the generation that eats,
sleeps and breathes technology — DJ and the Fro combines animation
and the best of the web. The internet clips are arguably the stars of
the show — the funniest, weirdest videos on the internet, made
funnier and weirder by the observations of DJ and the Fro. Exec
Producers: Dave Jeser (Drawn Together) and Matt Silverstein (Drawn
Together).
– THE STYLIST [working title]: This new reality series follows a
diverse group of struggling junior assistants as they toil for three
glamorous, highly successful celebrity stylists. The series follows
the young junior assistants on the job — music videos, movie
premieres, photo shoots — and in their personal lives as they find
romance, plot against each other, and try to make it big in a
cut-throat industry. At the end of each season, one junior assistant
will be signed to a stylist contract with the Margaret Maldonado
agency. The Stylist turns the reality competition format upside-down,
with no staged challenges or eliminations. The jobs are real, the
stakes are real and for these young people, the prospect of success or
failure is very real. Organic performance evaluations will always
allow the viewer a sense of who's ahead and who's in trouble. And
because the junior assistants are always faced with the knowledge that
only one of them will get signed, they are always looking into the
faces of their competition. Executive Producers: Jon Murray and Jeff
Jenkins (Bunim-Murray). Co-Executive Producers: Margaret Maldonado
(Margaret Maldonado Agency) Russell Jay (Bunim Murray), Gil Goldshein
(Bunim-Murray).
– ULTIMATE PARKOUR CHALLENGE: MTV brings the world's fastest growing
extreme sport to American audiences for the first time with the
Ultimate Parkour Challenge. The essence of Parkour is a sport with
virtually no limits. Athletes run as efficiently as possible from
point "A" to point "B" but unlike a track and field race, Parkour is
performed on any and every environment. Walls, cars, stairs,
railings, rooftops and ten-foot gaps between five-story buildings,
force runners to leap, roll, climb, vault and fly, using the obstacles
in their way to increase speed. MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge
captures the essence of the Parkour movement with a new special event
sports competition that will thrill audiences as eight of the World's
best Parkour athletes defy gravity, showcasing seemingly superhuman
skills in an easy to understand competitive format. Three rounds of
competition will ultimately crown one winner with $10,000 and title of
the Ultimate Parkour Champion. The show is produced in association
with the WFPF, World Freerunning & Parkour Federation. Executive
Producers: Bob Kusbit & Francis Lyons, One Louder Productions.
Executive Producers: Kemp Curley, Transition Productions. Co-Executive
Producers: Victor Bevine & David Thompson.
– PRANKED: A weekly 30 minute show of the very best pranks pulled
straight off the internet. The show taps into the era of technology
democratizing the media process. These homemade pranks are
engineered, executed and filmed by kids themselves. No producers; no
professional editors, no camera men — just the thin line of
technology between the pranksters, their victims and the audience.
When it comes to silly humor — MTV curates the best of the best.
Executive Producer: Cheri Brownlee, Cheri Sundae Productions.
– POPZILLA: Nobody is safe from Popzilla. A Rapid-fire half hour
animated sketch show that relentlessly skewers the excesses of pop
culture. With a unique creative voice and style, the show uses
animation that allows for quick turnaround — Popzilla is built to
take on the headlines of the day. With a quick pace, and many
sketches under a minute, Popzilla is made to live on-air, online and
on mobile platforms. Executive Producers: Dave Thomas (SCTV), Tim
Hedrick, Jared Miller, R.J. Fried, Kevin Pedersen. Animated by
Animax.
– GONE TOO FAR: A series of one hour episodes, each with a unique
protagonist who has a serious addiction and needs help. These young
adults, aged 18-25, are not recreational users or occasional binge
drinkers. The addict is in a downward spiral, his family in crisis and
desperate to get their loved one the help they need. The show is
hosted by DJ AM, one of the most sought-after and highly paid DJs in
the world, who is uniquely qualified to help young addicts, having
formerly suffered from multiple addictions, weight problems and
depression. Working with a local addition expert, AM leads an
intervention with the addict's family and friends, and then follows
the patient through rehab and back into society. Executive Producers:
Michael Hirschorn and Stella Bulochnikov Stolper, ISH Entertainment;
Cheryl Sirulnick, Gigantic; Paul Rosenberg. Co-Executive Producer
Larry Vavra.
– DISASTER DATE: It's comedy in the afternoons, with a hidden camera
show that guarantees laughs as unsuspecting daters get set up on
disastrous blind dates by their friends. The friend (our accomplice)
watches from the control room as our team of improv actors put the
gullible dater through the worst date ever. Our dater unknowingly
rings up cold hard cash for every minute they stay on the date. After
going on a disaster date, Friday nights alone never looked so good!
Executive Producer: Sally Anne Salsano, 495 Prods.
MTV RETURNING SERIES
– The Hills: MTV viewers will find out life in Los Angeles only gets
more complicated as friendships, relationships and loyalties are
tested like never before as "The Hills" returns this fall with more
episodes of season five. Lauren has moved on, but Heidi, Audrina,
Spencer, Brody, Stephanie, Lo and Justin Bobby will be back as the
drama continues with fresh faces, new stories and shocking surprises.
Spencer and Heidi will be newlyweds so the stakes are higher than ever
before for the two to make things work.
– Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory: Somewhere between Diddy and Willie Wonka
lies Rob Dyrdek, a capable entrepreneur with a comically offbeat way
of realizing his own fantasy world. Rob commands operations in a
massive, 25,000-square-foot industrial — and fully skate-able –
warehouse and office complex near downtown Los Angeles. This is the
home of Dyrdek Enterprises, the nerve center and hatching ground for
all of Rob's crazy schemes, business plans and uniquely ridiculous
ideas. Anything from zip-lines and giant skateboards, to trampolines
and indoor blobbing can be achieved in Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory.
– Nitro Circus: Centered around the world's greatest freestyle
motocross rider Travis Pastrana and his crew of top action sport
athlete buddies, the show follows Travis and the Nitro Circus Crew as
they travel around the world setting up outrageous stunts and pushing
the human body to the limit, constantly looking to innovate the world
of action sports. Whether they're base jumping, sky diving, riding,
driving or relaxing, this group of tight-knit, highly-skilled,
adrenaline-fueled friends always take the action "to eleven" with the
hammer down.
– Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew: "America's Best
Dance Crew""America's Best Dance Crew" is hosted by Mario Lopez and
shot on location in Los Angeles as dance crews of five to seven
members perform their hottest moves for dance supremacy and a $100,000
cash prize. Every performance-themed episode gives insight into the
crews' emotion, spirit and inspiration as they step up to the
challenge and showcase their innovative choreogRaphy and skills.
Viewers from around the country choose their favorite crews via text
messaging, phone and online voting
(http://dancecrew.mtv.comhttp//dancecrew.mtv.com). One crew will be
eliminated each week, ultimately revealing the nation's best dance
crew.
– Run's House MTV's first family of Hip-Hop is coming back for Season
Six. It's time to step inside Run's House as patriarch Rev Run and the
rest of the Simmons clan once again open their doors — and hearts –
for our cameras. And, once again, no matter how high the highs or low
the lows, they remain grounded by their strong faith and tight family
bond.
About MTV Network:
MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music, creativity and youth culture. For over 27 years, MTV has evolved, challenged the norm, and detonated boundaries — giving each new generation a creative outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and screen. On-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cable network for P12-24. Online, MTV.com averaged 8.5 million monthly unique visitors during the first quarter of 2009 — up +6% from Q4/2008 and up +6% year-over-year. Total video streams for the first quarter of 2009 increased 21% over the same time period last year. And MTV's successful sibling networks MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s each deliver unprecedented customized content, super-serving music fans, college students and young American Latinos like no one else. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE: VIA.B) , one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Wanna know more? Come on in … www.mtvpress.comwww.mtvpress.com.
Source: MTV
CONTACTS:
Kassie Canter
Kassie.Canter@mtvnmix.com
212-846-7004
Ariana Urbont
Ariana.Urbont@mtvstaff.com
310-752-8079
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Tom Biro
Tom.Biro@mtvstaff.com
(212) 846-6406
Web Site: http://www.mtv.com/
