MTV Hits Five-Year Ratings High With 27% Quarterly Gain

NEW YORK, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MTV, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), delivered its best quarterly ratings in five years on the strength of a 27 percent year-over-year increase.   First quarter 2011 marks the network's fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.  With hit shows "Jersey Shore," "Teen Mom 2" and "The Real World: Las Vegas," MTV has the #1 series across all of television as well as three of the top-10 original cable series. The strong momentum extends to the online space, where the MTV Networks Music Group is the #1 online music destination with 121 percent year-over-year growth. 

Ratings gains in the first quarter are fueled by a 91 percent spike in MTV's "10 Spot," the network's branded 10pm – 11pm time period (Monday – Thursday) where it is the #1 destination on television.  In the first quarter, MTV posted rating gains for all of its returning "10 Spot" shows.

"Jersey Shore" season 3 is the quarter's #1 series across all of cable and broadcast television, beating Fox's "American Idol" in the prized 12-34 demo.  "Jersey Shore" is MTV's #1 series of all time and continued to break its own records in season 3.  This new season grew by 35 percent from the prior season and by 196 percent from its first season.  

MTV's "Teen Mom 2" is the #2 original cable series of 2011.  To date, "Teen Mom 2" is up 57 percent from the first season of "Teen Mom."   MTV's "Real World" franchise returned with strong ratings for its 25th season with "The Real World: Las Vegas."  It is the #9 original cable series of the quarter, with ratings that are up 11 percent over last season's "Real World: New Orleans." Another returning reality hit, "My Life As Liz," was up 70 percent over its first season.  

In addition to ratings success for all its returning series, MTV successfully seeded its new scripted Monday destination with "Skins," which improved MTV's Monday 10pm time period by 56 percent over first quarter 2010.   Currently airing in that time slot is returning comedy "The Hard Times of RJ Berger," which premiered on March 24 after "Jersey Shore" with its most watched telecast ever.   Upcoming scripted series "Teen Wolf" will air on Monday nights starting June 6.  

Online, the MTV Music Group grew to nearly 58 million uniques, making it the most visited online music destination according to the U.S. comScore Media Metrix numbers for February 2011.  In the last year, MTV Networks Music Group experienced more than a 121 percent year-over-year uptick in web traffic due to strong organic growth, strategic partnerships and the success of its social media initiatives.  

Source:  The Nielsen Company.  1Q11.  P12-34 Live+SD Cvg Rtg unless noted.  Rank on P12-34 000s.  Improvement 1Q11 vs. 1Q10.

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®, Grammy® and Peabody® 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.  For more information, go to www.mtvpress.com.

SOURCE MTV