MTV and VH1 to Air 10 Consecutive Hours of Musical Performances from Recent Live 8 Concerts

NEW YORK, July 8 -- MTV: Music Television and VH1 announced today that this Saturday, July 9, the two networks will collectively air 10 consecutive hours of commercial-free musical performances from the recent Live 8 concerts that took place July 2. VH1 will kick off the first five hours of "Live 8: A Concert to Make Poverty History" from 10am-3pm ET/PT. Continuing the music play, MTV will pick up with an additional five hours, beginning at 3pm ET/PT through 8pm ET/PT.

"Live 8 was a wonderful, peaceful, global and epic event involving over 150 musical acts playing their hearts out for the noble cause of eradicating poverty worldwide," said Van Toffler, MTVN Music Group President. "At MTV and VH1, we're in a constant and candid dialogue with our audience. In the wake of our coverage last Saturday, our viewers have resoundingly told us on-line they want to see full performances from their favorite artists. As a result of viewer demand and thanks to the Live 8 organizers and performers, MTV & VH1 will air 10 consecutive hours from one of the most important musical events of our time."

Additionally, premiering Friday, July 8 at 9pm ET/PT, MTV will air a half- hour news special titled "Live 8: Next Steps," which will include news packages about the concerts, the G8 Summit and more. The special will repeat on MTV following the 5-hour music block on Saturday, July 9, at 8pm ET/PT.

On July 2, from 12-8pm ET/9am-5pm PT, more than 18 million viewers tuned into to MTV and VH1 for coverage of Live 8. One week later, as the G8 Summit concludes in Scotland and where world leaders considered the impact of the global effort to fight poverty, the networks are extending the Live 8 message by airing these additional uninterrupted hours of performances from legendary and current artists.

VH1 and MTV's presentations will differ somewhat, with each network airing those performances that best fit the interests of their audiences. For example, both channels will air performances from U2, Pink Floyd, Orchestra Baobab, Coldplay and Sir Paul McCartney, with VH1 airing Rob Thomas, Sting, Dave Matthews Band, and Maroon 5 exclusively and MTV airing Linkin Park & Jay Z, The Killers, Kanye West and Green Day exclusively. A full rundown for each network will be available on their respective websites, mtv.com and vh1.com, on Friday.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), 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.

SOURCE MTV; VH1
Web Site: http://www.vh1.com