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Kids Will Have Opportunity to Participate in Series, Starring Drake & Josh

Alumnus Miranda Cosgrove, By Posting Their Original Content Online

Series Adds to Nickelodeon's Menu of Interactive Experiences for Kids,

Joining ME:TV, Nicktropolis and TurboNick

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    NEW YORK, March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continuing its lead in
 providing the most innovative entertainment content for today's digital
 generation, Nickelodeon announces the pickup of iCarly, an all-new
 live-action comedy series that will not only feature a lead character
 (Drake & Josh's Miranda Cosgrove) who hosts her own home-grown web show,
 but will for the first time incorporate content from real kids as part of a
 scripted series. The show will launch in September 2007 on Nickelodeon.
     (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070308/AQTH039)
     iCarly is a show within a show that converges the television screen and
 the web for kids. During the course of the series, Carly will give viewers
 a specific assignment that relates to the context of a particular show.
 Kids will be directed to a website to post their kid created original
 content, which may be either scripted into a future iCarly episode or
 become part of Carly's web cast online.
     "We are giving kids more and more ways to connect the dots of their
 linear and digital entertainment experiences through Nickelodeon, from the
 social networking of Nicktropolis, to the ability to mash up our content on
 TurboNick, to allowing them to send and control their own user-generated
 content on ME:TV," said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids
 and Family Group. "iCarly will bring it all together and reflect what real
 kids are doing today. The show could be in no better hands than creator Dan
 Schneider, who has delivered hit after hit for us."
     iCarly joins the numerous convergent entertainment experiences launched
 by Nickelodeon over the past few months. Nickelodeon's ME:TV is the
 first-ever live TV programming block (Monday through Friday from 5 to 7
 p.m.), featuring original kid-generated content. In the three weeks since
 ME:TV has launched, there have been tens of thousands of content streams on
 the site http://www.nick.com/metv. Nicktropolis, Nickelodeon's kid-targeted
 virtual world, surpassed 1 million unique, registered kids this February.
 And TurboNick 2.0, Nick's broadband video platform which gives kids the
 opportunity to control their individual entertainment, had its most
 successful month ever in February with more than 77 million streams, an
 increase of +511% versus February 2006.
     In iCarly, Miranda lives with her twenty-something brother/guardian
 Spencer (Jerry Trainor) and produces her web casts from a makeshift third-
 floor loft studio. Grappling with adolescence, she never aimed to gain fame
 as a rising star/underground celebrity to kids. As events unfold in the
 pilot, it all happens by accident when a teacher (guest star Mindy
 Sterling, Austin Powers' Frau Farbissina) puts her in charge of the school
 talent show. She and her sassy best bud Sam (Jeannette McCurdy) turn the
 audition process into a show, which Carly's tech savvy smitten friend
 Freddy (Nathan Kress) tapes -- including their hilarious banter and great
 chemistry -- and posts on the web unbeknownst to them. The online audience
 clamors for more, and a pop phenomenon blooms, with Miranda and sidekick
 Sam's regular web casts ultimately featuring everything from comedy
 sketches and talent contests to interviews, recipes and problem-solving.
     "Hit-maker Dan Schneider has created a cutting edge TV show that
 integrates the web with the tube in a totally unique way," commented
 Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President of Development and Original
 Programming, Nickelodeon. "We have a rich history of putting kids in
 control with convergent programming like the Kids' Choice Awards,
 SpongeBob's 'Best Day Ever' and ME:TV; iCarly takes that kid empowerment
 strategy one step further."
     Nickelodeon has green-lit 13 episodes of the comedy series. Cameras
 will begin to roll in Los Angeles in late March.
     Underscoring the Nick kid-empowerment philosophy, Schneider says,
 "iCarly aims to give kids an unfiltered voice with Carly's web cast and by
 showcasing kids' ideas, inventions and talents. It's a series that is
 intended to involve real kids across America and illustrate how they are
 currently experiencing entertainment."
     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 92 million
 households and has been the number-one- rated basic cable network for
 almost 12 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters
 and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:   VIA, VIA.B).
     About MTV Networks and Viacom
     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 135 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 in focused demographics. Engaging its
 audiences through television, motion pictures and digital platforms, Viacom
 reaches its audiences wherever they consume content. Viacom's leading
 brands include the multiplatform properties of MTV Networks, including MTV,
 VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, COMEDY CENTRAL, CMT: Country Music
 Television, Spike TV, TV Land, Logo and more than 135 networks around the
 world, as well as digital assets such as Neopets, Xfire and Atom
 Entertainment; BET Networks; Paramount Pictures; Paramount Home
 Entertainment; DreamWorks; and Famous Music. More information about Viacom
 and its businesses is available at http://www.viacom.com.
 
 

SOURCE Nickelodeon