Dan Hart Appointed Senior Vice President, General Manager for MTV Digital

Dan Hart Appointed Senior Vice President, General Manager for MTV Digital

Paul J. DeBenedittis Upped To Vice President of Operations And Colin Helms to Vice President of Programming

NEW YORK, June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MTV: Music Television has named Dan Hart as Senior Vice President and General Manager of MTV Digital, it was announced today by Christina Norman, President of MTV and Brian Graden, President of Entertainment for MTV Networks' Music Group. A veteran of MTV Networks and an accomplished expert in developing online products, strategies and businesses, Hart previously served as Vice President of Online Games Strategy and Operations for MTV Networks. In his new role, Hart will be charged with building upon the strong growth that MTV.com has experienced this year; delivering integrated experiences that link programming across all screens; furthering music programming on MTV.com, and leading new product development in the digital space. Hart will report to Norman and Graden and will work under the oversight of Courtney William Holt, Executive Vice President of Digital Music and Media for MTV Networks' Music Group on digital strategy and initiatives.

In addition to Hart, MTV announced that it has promoted Paul J. DeBenedittis to Vice President of Operations for MTV Digital, and Colin Helms to Vice President of Programming for MTV Digital. In his new role, Hart will also work with Dave Sirulnick, Executive Vice President, MTV Multi-Platform Production, News and Music for MTV.

"We're incredibly lucky to have a deep bench of digital talent that makes promoting Dan, Paul and Colin from within not only possible but smart," Norman said. "Dan has a keen eye for building digital products and businesses that deliver exceptional user experiences, and his efforts will be complemented by a superior operations team lead by Paul and a top-notch programming group guided by Colin. Together, Dan, Paul and Colin will work hand-in-hand with MTV's programming teams to create experiences that live across all of our screens and deepen our audiences' engagement with our brand and our franchises."

"MTV is taking unprecedented steps to create content that goes even beyond engaging audiences on multiple platforms and allows them to become an integral part of the music and on-air programming they are passionate about," Hart said. "It's a vision that I deeply believe in, and I look forward to working with Paul, Colin and the digital and programming teams at MTV to build new products that excite our users, extend the reach of the brand and drive deeper engagement."

MTV's strategy of engaging viewers across all screens is paying off. In the first quarter of 2007, the number of unique visitors to MTV.com soared 51 percent over the same quarter last year. Viewers are flocking to the site to watch full episodes, view After Shows and consume additional exclusive content from their favorite programs, like "Rob & Big," "The Real World: Denver," "The Hills" and "Run's House." MTV.com also is a place for music, music discovery and music culture. Since January, MTV.com has streamed nearly 146 million music videos from such popular artists as Fall Out Boy, Fergie and Mims. MTV also is developing sites that add entirely new dimensions to the way in which viewers interact with their favorite programs by allowing them to visualize the makeup of the shows' casts and also potentially become cast members themselves. MTV recently launched The Real World Casting vertical, which allows viewers to be considered for an upcoming season or to serve as a judge to help determine who makes the cut. In either instance, the audience has a chance at becoming famous on-air or on the site - a true reflection of MTV's strategy coming to life.

Since joining MTV Networks in 2004, Hart led the team that developed game play properties across multiple MTVN sites, and created games based on such popular shows as "The Real World," "Pimp My ride" and "Two-A-Days" on MTV.com; "Flavor of Love" and "World Series of Pop Culture" on VH1.com; "Trick My Truck" on CMT.com and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "South Park" on COMEDYCENTRAL.com. Hart has also played a central role in several key acquisitions and deals for the company. Prior to joining MTVN, Hart oversaw Yahoo! Games. Under his leadership, Yahoo! Games developed multiple new products and revenue streams, while growing to become the number one trafficked games site globally. Prior to Yahoo!, Hart worked for MTV Networks' parent company, Viacom, where he served as the vice president of planning and development for new media, working with the company's senior executives to define and implement Internet strategy for the company's various media divisions, including MTV Networks, Blockbuster, Paramount, Showtime and Simon and Schuster.

Hart earned a BA and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He also holds a Masters in Education from Columbia University.

Like Hart, both DeBenedittis and Helms are MTV veterans. DeBenedittis began his career with MTV's press department and later joined MTV Digital Media, holding various roles with increasing responsibility in the areas of programming, promotion, ad integration, e-commerce, planning and operations.

Helms is credited with creating an online editorial department from scratch and over the last several years has developed original digital programming for such high-profile events as the "MTV Video Music Awards" and "The MTV Movie Awards." Prior to MTV, Helms was one of the founding editors of Complex, an urban men's lifestyle magazine, and he also served as the editor- in-chief of the CMJ New Music Report.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom International Inc., is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with 100 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, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 80 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.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: MTV

CONTACT: Mariana Agathoklis, +1-212-846-5755,
Mariana.Agathoklis@mtvstaff.com, or Matthew Hutchison, +1-212-846-8052,
Matthew.Hutchison@mtvstaff.com, or David French, +1-212-846-6406,
David.French@mtvstaff.com, all of MTV

Web site:

http://www.mtv.com/

-------
Profile: intent