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Viacom's MTV Networks Forms 'MTVN Entertainment Group', Focused on Adult-Directed, Male-Skewing Brands

Posted on: Thursday, 7 December 2006, 12:00 CST

NEW YORK, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- MTV Networks (MTVN), a unit of Viacom , today announced the formal creation of the MTVN Entertainment Group, a multi-platform portfolio featuring the company's adult- directed and male-skewing brands, including COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, AddictingClips.com, Atom Films, IFILM, GameTrailers.com and XFire. This combination of television, online, broadband, user-generated content and gaming platforms positions the MTVN Entertainment group to super-serve a range of adult demos and collectively deliver scale with the highly coveted Male 18-to-34-year-old demographic.

Leading the Group is Doug Herzog, President, MTVN Entertainment Group, who reports to Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO, MTV Networks. The MTVN Entertainment Group now forms the third pillar of MTVN's targeted brand portfolio strategy, joining the MTVN Music, Logo and Films Group, led by Van Toffler; and the MTVN Kids and Family Group, helmed by Cyma Zarghami.

"The MTVN Entertainment Group creates a portfolio of television and digital brands that can collectively deliver under-served demos through killer content like comedy, gaming, video, news and information, and some classic TV, too," said Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO, MTV Networks. "Formalizing the Entertainment Group under Doug organizes us into three focused portfolio groups and highlights our overall strategy to provide the communities that form around our brands and content with immersive, multi-platform entertainment experiences."

"The individual brands in the Entertainment Group have significant growth potential in their own right, but we can now position them to aggregate and deliver men and adults across all platforms and on a scale rivaling other players in our industry," said Herzog.

The MTVN Entertainment Group brands deliver original and relevant content across television, online, and wireless to highly targeted male and adult-focused audiences. By targeting expanded demographics across its brands, the MTVN Entertainment Group offers advertisers more ways to reach their consumers, and gives MTVN the potential to establish additional revenue streams.

The MTVN Entertainment Group is strongly positioned to be a leader in delivering highly branded environments to Men 18-to-34-years-old through COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, user-generated content/short-form video sites Atom Films, AddictingClips.com, and IFILM. With a variety of male-skewing programming, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV and TV Land reaches 103 million men (M2+). The MTVN Entertainment Group also targets men with the company's two premier gaming sites, GameTrailers.com, the leading producer and aggregator of broadband video content highlighting the latest and best in the world of video games, and XFire, the fastest-growing online gaming community in the world, with more than 5.6 million registered global users. The Group also includes TV Land, the only 24-hour television network committed to super-serving America's 78 million Baby Boomers.

The roster of multi-platform brands within the MTVN Entertainment Group includes:

TELEVISION -- COMEDY CENTRAL, television's only all-comedy network, is a 24-hour, advertiser-supported, basic cable comedy service available to more than 90 million viewers domestically and is the #1 network in primetime among men 18-24, as well as a consistent top 10-rated network among all adults 18-49. -- Spike TV is dedicated to delivering men more action, is the leading entertainment brand for men by speaking to the fun, brazen, risk-taking part inside of all guys through a mix of original and acquired programming, specials, live events and movies. -- TV Land is cable's only 24-hour home to everything television, super-serving Baby Boomers with a program mix includes that includes popular dramas, sitcoms, westerns, Retromercials and a TV-referential interstitial environment. The network, which began showcasing original programming in 2003, recently announced a new programming slate featuring several notable projects and recurring series including Family Foreman, The Big 4-0, and the second season of Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg. USER-GENERATED CONTENT/SHORT-FORM VIDEO -- AddictingClips.com offers consumers a destination for the best clips and user-generated video across the Web. -- Atom Films provides on-demand viewing of more than 1,000 world-class film and animation titles ranging from 1- to 30-minutes in length. -- IFILM is one of the leading video-entertainment destinations on the Web, with one of the largest collections of viral and user-generated video, along with channels of the best short films, TV clips, music videos and action sports. GAMING -- GameTrailers.com is a leader in the digital revolution through its innovative production and delivery of broadband video-game content. -- XFire is the fastest-growing online gaming platform and community in the world that helps gamers play with their friends much more easily. About MTV Networks and Viacom:

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom , is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 130 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services - MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 200 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

Viacom is a leading global entertainment content company, with prominent and respected brands in focused demographics. Engaging its audiences through television, motion pictures and digital platforms, Viacom reaches its audiences wherever they consume content. Viacom's leading brands include the multiplatform properties of MTV Networks, including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, CMT: Country Music Television, Spike TV, TV Land, Logo and more than 130 networks around the world, as well as digital assets such as Neopets, Xfire and Atom Entertainment; BET Networks; Paramount Pictures; Paramount Home Entertainment; DreamWorks; and Famous Music. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at http://www.viacom.com/.

MTV Networks

CONTACT: Tony Fox, MTVN Entertainment Group, +1-212-767-8746; DavidBittler, MTV Networks, +1-212-846-5263

Web site: http://www.mtv.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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