CMT LOADED AND CMT MOBILE CELEBRATE MILESTONES AND SIGNIFICANT GROWTH
07/24/07
CMT LOADED Garners Over 100 Million Video Streams In Its First Year With Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” Ranking As Top Stream
CMT Mobile Grows 259% Over Year Ago
NASHVILLE – July 24, 2007 – Heartland fans are flocking to CMT’s Loaded at CMT.com and CMT Mobile to stay connected to their favorite musical artists, programming and country music news. The number-one country music network, CMT today announced that LOADED, its broadband video player which is marking its one year anniversary has streamed more than 100 million videos since its launch in July 2006. Similarly, CMT Mobile is experiencing strong year-over-year growth of 259 percent – and a big 44 percent jump in June 2007 over May 2007 – due in part to strong viewer demand for music videos.
CMT also announced it is expanding its footprint on the handset and will launch its mobile web, or WAP, site on Wednesday, August 1. The mobile web site makes it even easier for country music fans to stay connected to the great heartland programming offered by CMT. Giving country music fans even more flexibility, CMT LOADED will now feature flash-enabled video streaming, allowing an even wider audience of both PC and Mac users to enjoy LOADED and streaming video on CMT.com.
“Fans have been coming to CMT LOADED and CMT Mobile in record numbers to connect with video from their favorite artists and CMT shows,“ says Martin Clayton, vice president of digital media for CMT. “For the past year, broadband and mobile have grown and offered up videos and exclusive content for true country music fans. Look for more exclusive content and community features to be added in the months ahead.”
Since LOADED’s inception, the top five video streams include 1) Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats;” 2) Josh Turner’s “Would You Go With Me;” 3) Rascal Flatts’ “What Hurts The Most;” 4) Taylor Swift’s “Tim McGraw” and 5) Lindsey Haun’s “Broken.”
CMT LOADED offers a high resolution and high speed viewing experience with broadcast quality programming. Available free and on demand at CMT.com, the 24-hour broadband network features the largest online video collection designed specifically for country music lovers, with more than 5,200 exclusive performances, interviews and original productions, and virtually ever country music video ever released, in addition to thousands more free videos from across all genres. Additional LOADED content includes, rare or exclusive footage from a wide array of artists such as Faith Hill, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins, Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley and Hank Williams Jr., as well as original content from established CMT shows such as CMT CROSSROADS, TY MURRAY’S CELEBRITY BULL RIDING, DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS: MAKING THE TEAM and original programming produced exclusively for LOADED such as VIDEO REPLAY, CUSTOM BUILT, WIDE OPEN COUNTRY, LOADED OUTSIDER, RURAL GENIUS, MUSIC CITY MADNESS and LOADED QUESTIONS. In May, CMT LOADED extended its news coverage with INSIDER NEWS NOW, an exclusive daily report from the world of country music.
The CMT mobile video channels and new CMT WAP site ensure diverse audiences can stay easily connected to the music, comedy, pop culture and entertainment programming they love. With CMT’s new WAP site, the best of CMT.com’s news, photos and data feeds are reformatted and available for the mobile users. CMT Mobile now offers extensive video streaming in 3G video phones along with web pages that can be accessed by all pda users. The CMT mobile web site will feature news and content from viewer favorites, such as CMT INSIDER, TRICK MY TRUCK SEASON 3, COYOTE UGLY and DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS: MAKING THE TEAM.
Martin Clayton, vice president of digital media for CMT and Lewis Bogach, vice president, production for CMT, oversee the development of original music and entertainment programming for CMT LOADED.
Visit CMT's press-only Web site www.cmtpress.com for more information and downloadable photos on all of CMT's programming.
CMT Loaded is the largest broadband network designed specifically for country music lovers with thousands of exclusive performances and interviews, hosted series, original productions, plus music videos from across all genres. Available free and on demand at CMT.com, the 24-hour network features rare or exclusive footage from a wide array of artists, including the biggest stars, emerging artists, bluegrass, alt-country and more.
CMT, a unit of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and Heartland entertainment, reaching more than 84 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network’s digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT’s broadband channel, CMT Loaded.
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom , 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.
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