MTV Makes Unprecedented Multi-Platform Launch in Canada

MTV Makes Unprecedented Multi-Platform Launch in Canada

- CTV delivers on promise to launch Canadian-led MTV business -

- Six platforms to deliver MTV content with a distinctly Canadian attitude -

- Canadian First: MTV in Canada launches first-of-its-kind broadband channel at mtv.ca -

- New MTV Specialty Channel available in 6 million households on Day One -

- Canadian Advertisers want their MTV: 23 Charter Advertisers now on-board -

TORONTO, March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The single-biggest multi-platform launch in the history of Canadian television will unfold when the highly anticipated MTV brand debuts tomorrow, March 21, 2006 at 6 p.m. ET. The all-Canadian multi-platform strategy was revealed today by Ivan Fecan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bell Globemedia and CEO for CTV Inc., together with Susanne Boyce, CTV President of Programming and Chair of the CTV Media Group and Brad Schwartz, Senior Vice President and General Manager for MTV in Canada. Bill Roedy, Vice Chairman, MTV Networks and President, MTV Networks International confirmed that CTV's MTV launch represents the biggest multi-platform launch among all 49 worldwide MTV services comprising the MTV Networks International family.

Today's news confirms CTV's commitment to build and grow a multi-layered, Canadian-led MTV business, one that delivers a clearly Canadian interpretation of the MTV brand across many platforms, by Canadians for Canadians. The MTV brand will debut in true 360-degree fashion; across six different platforms. The "Six Arms of MTV" will incorporate numerous distribution strategies including conventional and specialty channel platforms, mobile, Video On Demand.

(VOD) and in pioneering fashion, across a newly created premium broadband service, MTV Overdrive, the first of its kind in Canada. It's a historic day not just for Canadian audiences, but for Canada's creative and production communities too.

At 6 p.m. ET tomorrow, "the drought will end" and the MTV experience will be delivered with a distinctive Canadian twist, in the following ways:

1. On MTV, a newly branded Canadian analog specialty service offering a
winning schedule, infused with lifestyle, talk and documentary
programming and anchored by distinct and interactive Canadian series.
The channel is immediately available in 6 million Canadian households
via all major cable and DTH services;

2. On MTV Overdrive, a new broadband channel that represents a
first-of-its-kind in Canada. The free premium video service harnesses
the latest in technology to deliver MTV content to anyone at broadband
speeds. On demand are full-length MTV programs, daily MTV News, custom
short-form programming, movie and game reviews and much more. In
addition to providing MTV-branded content, Overdrive is MTV's answer to
music authenticity in Canada with exclusive MTV music events, artist
interviews, live performances and thousands of music videos. Overdrive
will live at http://www.mtv.ca/ and launches March 21 at 6 p.m. ET;

3. On a conventional television platform where newly created "MTVonCTV"
branded blocks of programming will be seen six nights a week across
Canada on CTV's conventional stations;

4. On Mobile, with exclusively produced MTV mobisodes and made for mobile
programming for individual carriers and also via cross-carrier mobile
distribution, MTV Mobile showcases a range of MTV programs that include
video, soundtrack ring tones, wallpapers and more, all available for
download via mobile phones and directly off the mtv.ca website;

5. On Video on Demand with an extensive line-up of MTV hit programs
immediately available;

6. Through MTV branded live events across Canada and at its historic
Toronto-based Masonic Temple Concert Hall.

In addition, MTV is now underway with plans for an additional distribution strategy to make MTV's hit programs available to portable video devices.

"A new chapter in Canadian media, employing multiple platforms and interactivity, begins. The future is now," said Fecan.

"Tomorrow, MTV in Canada is embarking on the biggest multiplatform launch ever," said Roedy. "This is a historic milestone that celebrates Canada's rich diversity and culture while providing breakthrough entertainment to audiences whenever and wherever they want it."

"It's a landmark day for Canada's creative community and viewers from coast-to-coast," said Boyce. "A culturally vibrant country like ours deserves its own MTV. Sharing Canada's creative talent with the world through MTV's worldwide network puts Canada on the world stage. It's where we belong."

"Finally, we can unveil to Canadians this ambitious strategy that combines industry-leading distribution partners and new technology with fresh, relevant and energetic MTV content with a distinctly Canadian flavor," said Schwartz. "We are perfectly positioned to serve Canadian audiences like never before, ultimately delivering the very definition of 'I Want My MTV' to Canadians anywhere at any time."

The Canadian Creative and Production Story. The MTV brand creates a boon for production in Canada. No less than seven new Canadian series are now in production, six of them hitting the MTV Specialty schedule at launch. It's a whole new creative outlet for talent and the production community. In all, more than 150 jobs have been created so far. And when the MTV brand launches, people will see one of the most distinctively Canadian brands on the dial, with a comprehensive creative campaign conceived and inspired by various Canadian imagery and artists. Each campaign is infused with tried and true Canadian imagery, turned on its ear with passion, attitude and irreverence in a way that reveals how there is a little MTV in everyone.

Six Million Households: Following new and expanded carriage deals with distribution partners Rogers Cable and Bell ExpressVu, MTV confirmed today that its analog specialty service, MTV, will be immediately available in 6 million Canadian households on Day One. In the ensuing months, as MTV works with its other cable and DTH partners, more distribution announcements will be made in an effort to make this valuable television brand available to as many Canadians as possible.

Canadian advertisers want their MTV. MTV revealed an extensive list of 23 advertising partners who have inked multi-platform sponsorship deals to be on-board for Day One. They include Bell Mobility, Cadbury Adams, Clean & Clear and Neutrogena Deep Clean, Coca Cola, Colgate Palmolive Canada Inc., Columbia Brewery, Dairy Farmers of Canada Milk, General Motors of Canada, KFC Canada, Kraft Canada, Labatt Breweries of Canada, McDonalds Restaurants of Canada Limited, Mission: Impossible III, Molson Canadian, Motorola, Nike, Nokia Products Limited, Pepsico, Sony Entertainment -- the Benchwarmers, Taco Bell, Telus and West 49.

MTV's multiplatform advertising opportunities allow clients' brands to reach millions of consumers via an array of on-air and digital assets, including the broadband service MTV Overdrive.

"The incredible response from clients and the agency community is confirmation that we are on target with the brand, our content and the distribution strategy," said Schwartz. "We want to acknowledge all 23 partners who have joined the MTV business from Day One. Our goal is to make MTV the preferred destination for advertisers, large and small, and we look forward to growing together with all of our partners."

On September 28, 2005, CTV Inc. announced it had forged a strategic alliance with MTV Networks to build and grow the MTV brand in Canada. A CTV-led venture promised to deliver a Canadian interpretation of the MTV brand across conventional and specialty television and for the first time, across a suite of digital media assets. Today, CTV has delivered on that promise.

MTV in Canada is a Canadian programmed and managed business wholly owned by CTV Inc., a division of Bell Globemedia Inc. MTV offers a distinctly Canadian interpretation of the MTV brand across multiple platforms, including a revolutionary broadband service, MTV Overdrive, and across an MTV-branded analog specialty service that delivers innovative lifestyle, talk and documentary programming with a commitment to 71 per cent Canadian programming in primetime. The MTV business is powered by an alliance between CTV, Canada's Number One television brand and MTV Networks, the world's most valuable media brand. MTV in Canada is one of 49 MTV-branded services worldwide serving 167 territories around the world.

Source: MTV

CONTACT: Emily Young Lee of MTV, +1-416-355-3613, eyounglee@mtv.ca; or
Scott Henderson, +1-416-332-5305, shenderson@ctv.ca or Mike Cosentino,
+1-416-332-5048, mcosentin@ctv.ca, both of CTV Inc., for MTV

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

NOTE TO EDITORS: The MTV media site is active and can be found on-line at http://www.mtvmedia.ca. High-Resolution photography and program information is available, as well as providing access to the MTV launch documents

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