MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Commits $100 Million to Its Online Casual Games Business

Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Announces Plans for New Premium

Subscription Services, Multiplayer Games, First Teen Girl Gaming Site,

Casual MMOGs/Virtual Worlds, More Self-Published Titles, and Broader

Integrated Advertising Opportunities

Investment Plans Part of MTV Networks' Overall Commitment to Become Leaders

in the Casual Gaming Arena

    NEW YORK and SEATTLE, July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- MTV Networks' Nickelodeon
 Kids and Family Group today announced its commitment to invest $100 million
 over the next two years in development, distribution and creation of casual
 gaming titles, sites and platforms. The announcement was made by Cyma
 Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group and was highlighted
 at the Casual Connect gaming conference in Seattle, WA, in a keynote
 address delivered by Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's Executive Vice
 President of Digital Media, Steve Youngwood.
     This announcement from the Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group is part of
 MTV Networks' overall commitment to leading in the gaming space, including
 casual games, games media, console-based and handheld games.
     "Across all of MTVN's online sites, gaming is an important original
 genre and we are committed to delivering fresh content to our audiences in
 all of our demos," said Ms. Zarghami. "Particularly in the kids' space,
 with more than 86% of kids 8 to 14 gaming online, we see great momentum for
 online casual gaming. This investment will not only benefit our audiences,
 but also our marketing and distribution partners."
     According to a recent Comscore World Metrix study on websites offering
 online or downloadable games, 25% of web users are frequenting gaming sites
 and the number of unique visitors to online gaming sites has reached close
 to 217 million, up +17% versus last year. The average online gamer visits a
 gaming site nine times in one month.
     The Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group investment will roll out over the
 course of the next two years, primarily in 2008-09, through several
 initiatives including:
     -- myNOGGIN: A subscription service where preschoolers can play
 educational games and parents can track their progress will launch this
 fall with Charter Communications, Cox Communications and Insight
 Communications. It will also become available directly to consumers online
 in the fall through a subscription model. myNOGGIN will be advertising
 free, and will build upon existing hit Nickelodeon Kids and Family brands
 for preschoolers and their parents, Nick Jr. and NOGGIN.
     -- Nick.com/Nicktropolis Multiplayer Games/Tournaments: www.nick.com
 will expand upon its existing gaming franchise, New Game of the Week,
 giving it a multiplayer focus. The first new effort in this space is 3D
 Slimeball on Nick.com. In addition, multiplayer, cooperative gaming will
 become part of Nicktropolis (www.nicktropolis.com), complementing the safe
 chat, virtual economy, and item trading capabilities on the site.
     -- Nick Gaming Club: Nickelodeon's first ever subscription offering,
 Nick Gaming Club will be a safe gaming environment featuring multiplayer
 games, 3D avatars and community features. It will include games based on
 Nickelodeon properties as well as others. The Nick Gaming Club will launch
 in first quarter 2008.
     -- The-NGames.com: Launching in early 2008, The-NGames.com will become
 the first major casual gaming site to focus solely on teen girls.
 The-N.com, which previously focused on social games for teen girls with
 games like Slasher, Avatar Mall and others, will partner with
 AddictingGames to produce this new site.
     -- AddictingGames and AddictingWorlds: AddictingGames' offerings will
 be expanded to include casual MMOGs with the introduction of
 AddictingWorlds, a way to introduce a variety of virtual worlds to the
 AddictingGames' audience. www.addictinggames.com already features a few
 virtual worlds on its site, having recently entered into a partnership with
 Habbo and with an existing partnership with sister site Neopets. In
 addition, increased emphasis will be placed on user-submitted games on the
 site including more prominent upload capabilities and game-making engines.
     -- Shockwave: Shockwave will become the games destination for families.
 Increased focus this fall on www.shockwave.com will be on the creation of
 innovative applications which are both fun for the user and an opportunity
 for prominent integrated advertising. The first new application to launch
 is Jigsaw Video. In addition, Shockwave will be more closely linked with
 family-targeted brands within Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group, like
 Nick-at- Nite television, to give advertisers the ability to promote their
 messaging across multiple platforms. Shockwave will also increase its
 publishing of downloadable games with Carrie the Caregiver Episode 2:
 Preschool, scheduled to come out later this year.
     -- NeoStudios: Neopets (www.neopets.com) will be transformed into
 Neostudios, which will focus on developing new virtual world gaming
 experiences online, while continuing to grow and evolve the existing ones.
 The first of these will launch at the end of 2008 with a goal to launch a
 new one every other year.
     Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group has an expansive footprint in gaming
 through a diverse portfolio of online casual gaming, console-based and
 handheld games. The company's portfolio of online casual gaming properties,
 which generate almost 1 billion game plays per month from audiences ranging
 from kids to adults, include Neopets, Nick.com, Nickjr.com, Shockwave, Nick
 Arcade, AddictingGames and many more.
     MTV Networks continues to build a multi-dimensional games media network
 with acquired properties Xfire and GameTrailers.com, and content on branded
 sites including MTV.com and SpikeTV.com. The company also has a strong
 foothold in console-based and handheld gaming with MTV Games and Harmonix,
 which provides music fans with a deeper interactive experience through its
 popular music and rhythm titles.
     About Nickelodeon
     Nickelodeon, in its 28th year, is the number-one entertainment brand
 for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in
 everything it does. The company includes television programming and
 production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer
 products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films.
 Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 94 million
 households and has been the number-one- rated basic cable network for 13
 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos
 are trademarks of Viacom Inc. ( VIA, VIA.B).
     About MTV Networks and Viacom
     MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom ( VIA, VIA.B), is one of the
 world's leading creators of programming and content across all media
 platforms. MTV Networks, with 137 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/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL
 SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these
 networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its
 audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than
 200 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.
     Viacom is a leading global entertainment content company, with
 prominent and respected brands. Engaging its audiences through television,
 motion pictures and digital platforms, Viacom seeks to reach its audiences
 however they consume content. Viacom's leading brands include the
 multiplatform properties of MTV Networks, including MTV: Music Television,
 VH1, CMT: Country Music Television, Logo, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, COMEDY
 CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, and more than 130 networks around the world, as
 well as digital assets such as MTV.com, comedycentral.com, VSPOT,
 TurboNick, Neopets, Xfire and iFilm; BET Networks; Paramount Pictures;
 DreamWorks; and Famous Music. More information about Viacom and its
 businesses is available at www.viacom.com.
 
 

SOURCE MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group