MTV Transforms to "Michael Jackson Television" on August 1st for 24-Hour Global Celebration of Jackson's Music on the Network's 28th Birthday

NEW YORK and SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- MTV, MTV.com, VH1, VH1.com, VH1 Classic and VH1 Soul will continue to honor Michael Jackson's life and legacy with extended coverage of the "King of Pop's" Public Memorial service on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 beginning at 12:00 pm ET / 9:00 am PT. From 1pm-2:30 ET/10-11:30am PT, the music channels will go LIVE and commercial free for Jackson's memorial service taking place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway will be reporting. Additionally, all day on Saturday, August 1st, MTV's 28th birthday, the "M" in MTV will stand for "Michael Jackson TV" as the network kicks off a global celebration of his music, reaching more than a half billion households in over 160 countries around the world.

During the hour leading up to the live memorial service, MTV and VH1 will air an extensive selection of Jackson's greatest videos, performances and in-depth interviews from deep inside the MTV and VH1 vaults and span the various decades of Michael's music and life. In addition to Sway's reporting from the Staples Center, there will be commentary and analysis from MTV News correspondents Tim Kash, Kim Stolz and Shaheem Reid and VH1's Jim Shearer and VH1 Classic's Mark Goodman, an original MTV VJ, LIVE from the MTV studio. Tweets from fans around the world will also run on-air as everyone pays respect to the legendary entertainer.

Later this summer on MTV's 28th birthday, there will be a day-long August 1st celebration featuring more exclusive footage of Michael Jackson, music videos, and memorable performances combined with commentary and performances from various artists whose lives he touched and inspired. More details to be announced.

For links to legendary music videos, messages from fans and celebrities, photos, and continuing news coverage of the star's life and career, viewers can visit "Michael Jackson Remembered." Fans can also log on to share their Michael Jackson memories through video and comments on Your.MTV.com. Fans can also go VH1.com to chat and to read live blog updates from inside the Staples Center. For more information, please go to MTV.com and VH1.com.

Please note: On July 7th, "It's On With Alexa Chung" will air on MTV at 11:30am ET/PT.

About MTV:

MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music, creativity and youth culture. For over 27 years, MTV has evolved, challenged the norm, and detonated boundaries -- giving each new generation a creative outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and screen. On-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cable network for P12-24. Online, MTV.com averaged 8.5 million monthly unique visitors during the first quarter of 2009 -- up +6% from Q4/2008 and up +6% year-over-year. Total video streams for the first quarter of 2009 increased 21% over the same time period last year. And MTV's successful sibling networks MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s each deliver unprecedented customized content, super-serving music fans, college students and young American Latinos like no one else. 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. Wanna know more? Come on in...www.mtvpress.com.

About VH1:

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 95 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, VH1Games and extensive broadband video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

SOURCE MTV

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