MTV'S "THE CHALLENGES: RIVALS" IS WEDNESDAY'S #1 ORIGINAL CABLE SERIES WITH P12-34

New York, NY - June 23, 2011 - "The Challenge: Rivals" was Wednesday's #1 original cable series with P12-34 when the new season debuted last night on MTV. The series premiere averaged a 1.6 P12-34 rating and delivered 1.9 million total viewers.

In next week's episode, airing Wednesday, June 29 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, it's the first men's elimination day and the competition is crushing, and everyone is surprised at who ends up fighting for their lives in the Jungle. Meanwhile, Jonna and Camilla have it out, but it's Jasmine who takes the fight to the next level.

Rivals.mtv.com is your only destination to watch full episodes, exclusive bonus scenes not shown on TV, sneak peeks and more! Sound off with other fans on Twitter and Facebook. Use our official hashtag #Rivals and have your tweets show up on the Rivals show site. The Rivals Facebook page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/rwrrchallenges.

"The Challenge: Rivals," was created for MTV by Bunim/Murray Productions. Jonathan Murray, Scott Freeman and Justin Booth serve as Executive Producers. Jacquelyn French is the MTV Executive overseeing the series.

About MTV:

MTV is the world's premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy(R), Grammy(R) and Peabody(R) award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV's sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is the leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.

About Bunim/Murray Productions:

Bunim/Murray Productions is the leading producer of innovative entertainment content. The Emmy Award-winning company is widely credited with creating the reality television genre with its hit series The Real World (25 seasons for MTV). Bunim/Murray continued to innovate with the first reality game show, Road Rules (MTV), in 1995; the first reality sitcom, The Simple Life (E!), in 2003; and the first reality soap opera, Starting Over, in 2003. Bunim/Murray's current programming includes The Bad Girls Club and Love Games (Oxygen), Keeping up with the Kardashians, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, Kim and Kourtney Take New York, Khloe and Lamar, The Spin Crowd and Married to Rock (E!), The Real World/Road Rules Challenge (MTV), Project Runway (Lifetime) and Saddle Ranch (VH1). Bunim/Murray Productions has launched additional entities including M Theory Entertainment, BMP Films and M Music. BMP Films produced Pedro (MTV) and the Emmy Award-winning Autism: The Musical (HBO). Based in Van Nuys, CA, Bunim/Murray Productions was founded in 1987 by Jonathan Murray and the late Mary-Ellis Bunim. The company joined Banijay Group in 2010.