MySpace & MTV, Along With Associated Press, to Exclusively Feature Frontrunner Republican & Democratic Candidates' 'Closing Arguments' February 2nd

28 Jan 2008 21:59 Africa/Lagos


MySpace & MTV, Along With Associated Press, to Exclusively Feature Frontrunner Republican & Democratic Candidates' 'Closing Arguments' February 2nd

Senator Hillary Clinton and Governor Mike Huckabee Confirmed for 'Super Dialogue' with Potential to Reach 200 Million Voters on TV, Online, Radio and Mobile Phones

Associated Press to Syndicate Event to 1,800 Media Websites, Nearly 600 in States with Super Tuesday Primaries

LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ --

MySpace, the world's most popular social network, and MTV, the leading global youth brand, along with the Associated Press, today announced "Closing Arguments: A Presidential Super Dialogue." The event will offer candidates polling above 10%* a final chance to address the nation -- particularly the energized and pivotal youth voting bloc -- in advance of Super Tuesday, an unprecedented moment in U.S. political history, when more than 20 states hold presidential primaries or caucuses. Frontrunner candidates Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee are the first confirmed participants for the next installment of MySpace and MTV's acclaimed Presidential Dialogue Series, taking place Saturday, February 2, 2008 at 6 PM ET on-air, online, radio and mobile phones. The Associated Press will distribute a live feed and on-demand highlights of the Dialogue to the 1,800 media sites in its Online Video Network; nearly 600 of those are local TV, newspaper or radio sites in states with Super Tuesday primaries. John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama and John Edwards have all been invited to participate in the event as well.


Young voters have turned out at primaries and caucuses in record numbers this year -- tripling their presence in Iowa and South Carolina, and doubling in New Hampshire vs. four years ago -- and their support will translate to 100s of delegates on Super Tuesday, February 5th. The "Super Dialogue" will give each participating candidate an opportunity to engage with this audience and individually address questions posed by online viewers via MySpaceIM, ChooseOrLose.com and from the live, college-aged audience in MTV's Times Square studio in New York. Candidates have the freedom to join from the studio or via satellite from the campaign trail. MTV News Correspondents Gideon Yago and Sway Calloway, as well as WashingtonPost.com political reporter Chris Cillizza will return to moderate, joined by a top AP political reporter covering the campaign.


The fourth in the groundbreaking series, the upcoming Presidential Super Dialogue will be the most publicly accessible and interactive presidential candidate event in history, with more mediums available for people to tune in and engage with a live event than ever before, including:


-- Broadcast live on MTV, MTV2 and MTV Tr3s, with highlights on college
network mtvU
-- Streamed live online via MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/election2008)
and MTV's http://www.chooseorlose.com/
-- Distributed live to the Associated Press Online Video Network,
encompassing more than 1,800 media sites with an aggregate reach of 61
million unique visitors -- and nearly 600 local media outlets in Super
Tuesday states
-- Streamed live on mobile devices via MTV Mobile
-- Broadcast live on radio via XM Satellite Radio, MTV and AP Radio
-- Translated into Spanish and broadcast on ImpreMedia's LaVibra
(http://www.lavibra.com/candidatos)
-- Shown on MTV 44 1/2, MTV's hi-definition screen in Times Square
-- Live studio audience participating at MTV's Times Square studio



A revolutionary polling tool, powered by Flektor (http://www.flektor.com/), will enable viewers watching online to indicate their approval or disapproval of candidates' responses throughout the course of the event and help guide the direction of the forum. A "popular vote" function will allow viewers to compare their opinions against those of the entire viewing community.


Previous MySpace / MTV Presidential Dialogues have featured former Senator John Edwards at the University of New Hampshire, Senator Barack Obama at Coe College in Iowa, and Senator John McCain at Southern New Hampshire University, individually engaging with students at each event and addressing unfiltered questions posed by online viewers. Since their debut, video highlights from previous Dialogues have been streamed more than one million times, and approximately four million people have tuned in to watch the Dialogues on MTV or MySpace. Video clips from each event are archived and available on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/election2008) and http://www.chooseorlose.com/.


The Presidential Dialogue series is a key component of the MySpace Impact Channel (http://impact.myspace.com/) and MTV's "Choose or Lose" (http://www.chooseorlose.com/). "Choose or Lose" is MTV's Emmy-Award winning campaign to engage, inform and empower young voters on the political issues that matter to them most. First launched in 1992, the campaign has helped fuel several of the largest youth voter turnouts in US history, including in 2004, when it helped inspire nearly 22 million 18-30 year olds to register and vote. The Impact Channel is MySpace's hub for social and civic engagement, designed to empower MySpace users to make a difference in the world and to allow politicians, non-profits, and civic organizations to connect with MySpace's global audience. The Impact Channel houses the official MySpace pages for all of the major party Presidential candidates, as well as tools to enable voter registration, fundraising, and volunteering. On January 1 and 2, 2008 the Impact Channel hosted the first in nation presidential primary with more than 150,000 MySpace users voicing their choice for the nation's highest office.


* Based on average of national polls from RealClearPolitics.com, at time
of request.

About MySpace

MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the world's most popular social network for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. By integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums, MySpace has created a connected community. As the first ranked web domain in terms of page views(*), MySpace is the most widely-used and highly regarded site of its kind and is committed to providing the highest quality member experience. MySpace will continue to innovate with new features that allow its members to express their creativity and share their lives, both online and off. MySpace's international network includes localized community sites in the United States, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, Latin America, Denmark, Norway, Brazil, Finland and the United Kingdom. Fox Interactive Media is a division of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A) .


(*) Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, November 2007. For
more information on comScore Networks, please go to
http://www.comscore.com/.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE:VIA.B) , is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 130 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, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services. The network also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.


About The Associated Press


The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP. On the Net: http://www.ap.org/.


Contacts
Edelman for MySpace
Sara Parker
(202) 350-6651
sara.parker@edelman.com

MTV
Marnie Black
(212) 258-7004
Marnie.Black@mtvstaff.com

Jason Rzepka
(212) 654-7198
Jason.Rzepka@mtvstaff.com

The Associated Press
Jack Stokes
(212) 621-1720
jstokes@ap.org


Source: MySpace; MTV Networks; The Associated Press

CONTACT: Sara Parker of Edelman, +1-202-350-6651,
sara.parker@edelman.com, for MySpace; or Marnie Black, +1-212-258-7004,
Marnie.Black@mtvstaff.com, or Jason Rzepka, +1-212-654-7198,
Jason.Rzepka@mtvstaff.com, both of MTV; or Jack Stokes of The Associated Press,
+1-212-621-1720, jstokes@ap.org


Web site: http://www.myspace.com/election2008
http://www.chooseorlose.com/
http://www.ap.org/