MTV Networks holds upfront

At its 2008 upfront presentation, held this afternoon at Nokia Theater Times Square in NYC, MTV Networks united its leadership, talent and marketing partners to showcase 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.

The event was highlighted by special guest appearances by 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.

During the 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 "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.

  Among the MSE case study's findings:

   -- 50% of viewers who watch only the TV show report a strong
      emotional connection to "The Hills," while 76% 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% 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% of
      viewers who do all of the activities above and also create their own
      content online around the show report a strong connection.

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

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.

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