LIFETIME'S HIT DOCUSERIES DANCE MOMS RETURNS FOR THIRD SEASON ON JANUARY 1, 2013

Bonafide Star Abby Lee Miller is Back in Pittsburgh & This Season the Competition is as Fierce as Ever!

LOS ANGELES, CA (November 28, 2012) - Take a spin on the dance floor this New Year's Day with Abby Lee Miller when Lifetime premieres the third season of Dance Moms. The hit docuseries is back and Pittsburgh's world-class students and their mothers are ready for another season of heated competition in their never-ending quest to bring home National Dance titles. Get ready for more drama and of course more dancing as the docusoap returns with several new faces all vying for the chance to become Abby's new favorite in the 90-minute season premiere on Tuesday, January 1, 2013, at 9:00pm PT/ET.

As an exciting inside look into the hit-series, prior to Dance Moms' return, Lifetime will air the Dance Moms Special: The Smoke Before the Fire at 8:00 pm PT/ET. During the special, Abby and the moms will take the stage together, giving a unique window into what's to come in America's favorite dancing docuseries while the ladies dish and their daughters perform never-before-seen choreography created exclusively for Dance Moms Special: The Smoke Before the Fire.

Nominated for a Teen Choice 2012 Award, Dance Moms follows children's early steps on the road to stardom and their doting mothers who are there for every rehearsal, performance and bow... all under Miller's discerning eyes. Presenting a powerful cast of characters that has inspired water-cooler talk across the country, the show immerses itself in the highs and lows surrounding dance competition season, delivering a captivating and dramatic look at the cast's intense pursuit of National Dance titles. Centered on the devoted Miller, who runs her school and instructs her young, talented students while also dealing with impassioned mothers who go to great lengths to help their children's dreams come true, Dance Moms poses the tough questions many people have been asking since the show's launch about what really goes on behind-the-scenes in the fast-growing and controversial sport of competitive dance.

Since the launch of Lifetime's hit series Dance Moms in summer 2011, Abby and the Pittsburgh moms and girls have become household names and an international celebrities in their own right. Abby has become even more of a world-renowned dance persona, making guest appearances at prestigious dance events across the country, including the Capezio 125th Anniversary Awards. Earlier in 2012, Abby was also nominated for a Logo "NewNowNext" award and Dance Moms was nominated for a "Fan Favorite" Teen Choice Award and for a "Best Candid Reality Show" Tubey Award from TelevisionWithoutPity.com. This year, Abby also made her acting debut in a guest appearance on Lifetime's critically acclaimed hit series Drop Dead Diva.

Dance Moms' second season, wrapped this September and was the number one unscripted cable series in its Tuesday 9:00pm time period among Women 18-49 and Women 2+. Additionally, season two over-delivered season one by wide margins among the key demographics, including +69% with Adults 18-49, +72% in Women 18-49, +64% among Adults 25-54 and +66% with Women 25-54. Dance Moms is Lifetime's youngest skewing current series with a season two median age of 32 years old, five years younger than season one. Abby is also currently headlining Lifetime's all-new dance competition program Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, which premiered October.

The program is produced by Collins Avenue, with Jeff Collins (Dance Moms, Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, Fly Girls), Michael Hammond (Dance Moms, Hell's Kitchen), Mike Aho (Dance Moms, The Bachelorette), Bryan Stinson (Dance Moms, High Society) and John R. Corella (Dance Moms) executive producing, and Robert Caplain (Big Brother, Fame) and Sara Quick (Dance Moms, LA Ink) co-executive producing, along with Rob Sharenow, Gena McCarthy, Kimberly Chessler and Stephen Schwartz of Lifetime. A+E Networks handles global sales for Dance Moms.

ABOUT COLLINS AVENUE

Collins Avenue, a premier reality programming producer located in Los Angeles, works in partnership with Content Media Corporation. The London-based global entertainment and media company, with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, owns and distributes a significant library of film, television and digital assets. Led by prolific reality producer Jeff Collins and represented by WME, Collins Avenue produces many reality and docu-series, including the highly successful Lifetime franchises Dance Moms and Dance Moms: Miami; Animal Planet's acclaimed American Stuffers; and National Geographic Channel's recently launched hit American Colony: Meet the Hutterites. Previously, Collins Avenue produced TLC's Outrageous Kid Parties and, earlier in his career, Collins served as showrunner of A&E's popular Billy The Exterminator and WE tv's highest-rated series, Bridezillas.

ABOUT LIFETIME

Lifetime Television is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. In the Third Quarter 2012, the network posted major growth in viewership versus Third Quarter 2011, including a 14% increase among Women 18-49, +9% in Women 25-54 and +5% among Adults 18-49, marking the third straight quarter Lifetime has registered year-on-year growth among the key demographics. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.