MTV Networks Upfront Presentation: 'The Ultimate ROI: Return on Innovation'

MTV Networks Upfront Presentation: 'The Ultimate ROI: Return on Innovation'

MTVN's Presentation Showcases Innovation Across Partnerships, Programming and Platforms

Special Appearances by Justin Timberlake, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, Ashanti, Taylor Swift, Lauren Conrad, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, George Foreman, Dr. Drew Pinsky and Exclusive Performances by John Legend, Sarah Silverman, JabbaWockeeZ from MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew" and the Cast of Hit Broadway Musical Legally Blonde Light Up the Nokia Theater Times Square

Presentation Also Unveils Landmark "Multi-Screen Engagement Case Study" and Partnership with Marketing Evolution to Deploy "Effectiveness Targeting"

NEW YORK, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- At its 2008 upfront presentation, MTV Networks (MTVN), a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), united its leadership, talent and marketing partners to showcase innovative partnerships, programming and platforms across its brands, which include MTV, VH1, COMEDY CENTRAL, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, CMT, Logo, Nick at Nite, The N and TV Land. The presentation, led off by MTVN Chairman and CEO Judy McGrath, highlighted "return on innovation" -- the value for marketers in MTVN's reinvention of how audiences experience content and advertising on every screen.

Held this afternoon at Nokia Theater Times Square in New York City, the event was highlighted by special guest appearances by some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Justin Timberlake, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, Ashanti, Taylor Swift, Lauren Conrad, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, George Foreman, Dr. Drew Pinsky, as well as exclusive musical performances by John Legend, Sarah Silverman, JabbaWockeeZ from MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew" and the cast of hit Broadway musical Legally Blonde.

"MTV Networks is a creative engine, and today there are literally no borders, no boundaries for creativity. We're taking our content and our audience and moving with them freely across every screen," said McGrath. "Our fans aren't merely consuming our content -- they're more invested and engaged in our brands than ever. It all starts with hits, and we've seriously pumped up the creative and financial capital we're putting into generating hit content."

The presentation emphasized MTVN's efforts to forge innovative marketing partnerships on multiple platforms. The company is a leader in working with advertisers to develop new ad formats, integrate MTVN brands with commercial messages, and co-create advertising to improve the impact and relevance of ad messages to audiences. Through its Digital Fusion unit, MTVN also provides advertisers with custom built digital marketing solutions, including Web sites, online games and widgets.

"It's a new world we're working in. We're putting our creative energy to work for marketers and reinventing commercial time as content time," McGrath continued.

MTV Networks' Multi-Screen Engagement Case Study

During the upfront presentation, MTVN President of U.S. Ad Sales Hank Close unveiled the company's Multi-Screen Engagement Case Study (MSE), the first significant research of its kind from a major media company. The study, conducted around MTV's wildly popular "The Hills," provides clear evidence that audiences develop stronger emotional connections to content and advertising messages when they consume and interact with them across multiple platforms.

"Advancing technologies are altering consumers' relationships with brands, and we make it our business to focus on consumer behavior and input," said Close. "Multi-screen measurement is a core competency at MTVN. In this landmark study, we found that television is still the biggest driver of brand awareness, and that multiplatform media campaigns perform at double to triple the effectiveness of a single media platform."

Among the MSE case study's findings:
-- Fifty percent of viewers who watch only the TV show report a strong
emotional connection to "The Hills," while 76 percent of viewers who
watch it on-air and also go online in search of additional
Hills-related content report a strong emotional connection.

-- Nearly 90 percent of viewers who watch the show, go online for more
information and who have an avatar in the Virtual Hills virtual world
say they're strongly connected to the franchise, while 96 percent of
viewers who do all of the activities above and also create their own
content online around the show report a strong connection.

The MSE case study also finds that the value of television advertising grows as viewers connect with marketing messages across screens.

-- More than 75 percent of viewers who watched "The Hills" on television
recognized a TV ad, but that number jumped nearly 10 percent among
viewers who interacted with content from the same sponsor on MTV.com
or in Virtual Hills.

The full report is available at http://mtvpress.com/research/.

The MSE case study joins the Nick True-Reach Meter tool in MTVN's portfolio of engagement research and tools. The single-source measurement tool takes an entirely new approach to measuring multiplatform consumption for all Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group brands across television, online, magazines and consumer products.

Partnership with Marketing Evolution

Close also announced a new partnership with Marketing Evolution, a custom market research and consulting firm dedicated to improving marketing ROI for leading global brands. Through the partnership, MTVN will be the first media company to offer clients "Effectiveness Targeting," a suite of measurement solutions based on Marketing Evolution's premium data analysis and marketing effectiveness metrics.

"Our partnership with Marketing Evolution will allow marketers, for the first time, to see exactly how our brands can deliver on attributes ranging from awareness to word-of-mouth," said Close. "'Effectiveness Targeting' represents a major breakthrough in marketing accountability. Nothing like this exists in the market today."

With "Effectiveness Targeting," MTVN will empower its partners to identify a specific marketing goal -- ranging from building awareness around product launches to immediately driving sales -- and optimize advertising buys to achieve that goal with the best possible ROI. The new tool strengthens MTVN's arsenal of ROI measurement systems, and will help the company work together with marketers to effectively target their advertising campaigns.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 150 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, LOGO, NOGGIN, THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, 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 300 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.

Source: MTV Networks

CONTACT: Carole Robinson, +1-212-846-8760, or Mark Jafar,
+1-212-846-8961, both of MTV Networks

Web site:

http://www.mtv.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For Artwork Please E-Mail Neena Kadian at neena.kadian@mtvstaff.com

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