mtv.com Sets Records for Traffic and Video Streams in January and February, Propelled by Music, On-Air Programming and News

MTV Mobile Also Reaches New Heights with 1 Million Streams Per Month

NEW YORK, March 12 -- MTV: Music Television today announced record traffic and video streams for mtv.com since the beginning of the year, as viewers flocked to the site to go deeper with the on-air programs they love, keep up with all the latest music news and catch their favorite artists, music videos and exclusive performances. MTV Mobile also reached new heights, delivering 1 million streams per month in December and January, a new milestone for the wireless channel.

For mtv.com, January and February were consecutive record-setting months on a number of levels -- the site delivered a record 84 million streams in January, only to shatter that number in February with 85.1 million streams. February also saw mtv.com deliver an average of 3 million streams daily, the first time the site has reached that threshold. The year-to-year comparisons are even more striking: January 2007 streams were up 258 percent over the previous January, while February streams were up 228 percent over the year prior.

Helping fuel the groundbreaking streams were a record number of unique visitors. In January, mtv.com attracted 24.2 million unique visitors, an all- time-high and a 56 percent increase over January 2006. In February, the number of daily unique visitors grew another 10 percent to 1.1 million a day, up from 1 million a day in January. March also is roaring in like a lion. mtv.com earned 7.1 million unique visitors for the week ending March 4, second only to the week ending Aug. 28, 2006, which featured exclusive behind-the-scenes and show content from the Video Music Awards.

"Viewers are constantly telling us they want to dig deeper into the content they see on-air, and they are obsessive about following our programming from one platform to the other -- and back," said Christina Norman, President of MTV. "When the TV show 'The Hills' inspires a community of fans to connect with their favorite cast members and devour exclusive content online and on the handset, the payoff for viewers is a more immersive experience all the way around."

Propelling mtv.com into record territory were: music videos from Justin Timberlake, Fergie, Gym Class Heroes and My Chemical Romance; music programming, including "Spankin' New Music Week" and the recent "MTV Unplugged: KoRn" performance; and original and online-only programming like MTV News' coverage of the Grammy Awards and creative after shows that expanded upon such popular series as "The Hills," "Two-A-Days," "My Super Sweet 16" and "Engaged and Underage." Additionally, the "Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Duel" live reunion show in January was mtv.com's most successful live streaming event ever, and as second season of "The Hills" gained steam, viewers went online in droves, boosting video streams by 50 percent in February over January.

On the handset, music and original-made-for-mobile programming helped MTV Mobile reach 1 million streams per month in December and January. Viewers continued to connect with Sway's Hip Hop Owners Manual to learn the latest in hip-hop terminology. And MTV and Verizon Wireless teamed up for the first-ever "MTV Live," in which Fall Out Boy performed songs from their new album "Infinity On High." While the concert was promoted on all screens, MTV Mobile also featured a first-look at a song not performed on-air, as well as interviews with the band. The success of MTV Live on MTV Mobile and all MTV screens, including MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s, helped Fall Out Boy's new album reach #1 on the Billboard charts in its debut week.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 130 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, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 15 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
http://www.mtv.com