July 31, 2006

Canadian First: MTV's Video Music Awards to Air Live on CTV Thursday, August 31

-- VMA Pre-Show to air Live on MTV --
-- Canadians can win exclusive VMAs Prize Package on MTV Overdrive --

Toronto, ON (July 31, 2006) - CTV announced today that the biggest music party of the year, The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) will air live for the first time in Canada on conventional television on Thursday, August 31 at 8 p.m. ET (check local listings) on CTV. The prelude to the big show, The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards Pre-Show, will air on MTV beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT. With wall-to-wall stars, the pre-show will show fans all the juicy red carpet talk and a glimpse of VMA madness. Further details on the pre-show will come in the following weeks.

Nominees for this year's MTV Video Music Awards will be revealed at a press conference later today in New York City. Returning to New York City for the 13th year, the 23rd Annual awards show will once again air live from Radio City Music Hall for the 10th time.

In addition to the CTV broadcast, the 2006 VMAs can be experienced on demand on MTV Overdrive at www.mtv.ca/vma beginning Wednesday, August 9. MTV Overdrive is the only place to watch music videos from all of the nominees, to view the most talked about VMA red carpet photos from past years and watch the full broadcast of last year's red carpet special: VMA Fashion Attack.

The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards will also be presented with two screen technology. Viewers can enjoy the broadcast on CTV while experiencing the event live in real time on MTV Overdrive at www.mtv.ca. While the awards are being presented on CTV, viewers can make their voices hear by voting for their favourite nominated videos on MTV Overdrive. In addition, photos of fashion successes and faux pas from the 2006 VMAs red carpet will be presented online for ratings and criticism.

For the first time, Canadians will be able to take part in a worldwide contest to win one of 25 all-expenses-paid trips to the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. Running alongside similar contests in MTV markets around the world, the MTV VMA'06 Video Diary contest begins July 31 at 4 p.m. ET on MTV Overdrive. One Canadian prize-winner will be treated to the ultimate experience at the 2006 VMAs including VIP tickets, roundtrip flights to New York City courtesy of American Airlines, three nights hotel accommodations at the Chelsea Savoy Hotel, an excursion at the new "Top of the Rock" observation deck at Rockefeller Center, dinner at Tony's DiNapoli Times Square restaurant; a tour of the Museum of Modern Art, all on-the-ground transportation and $300 spending money.

MTV viewers in Canada can enter the contest through mtv.ca/vma or through SMS text messaging. Details on text entries will be available on MTV Overdrive at mtv.ca/vma. Contest entrants must describe their ultimate New York experience and why they are the best fan in order to win this amazing prize.

In addition, while in New York, all 25 pairs of winners will be charged with the task of filming their own video diaries of their VMA experience. The footage that they shoot (camera and microphone will be provided) will then be used on local MTV websites and broadband services so that viewers everywhere around the world can check out the winners' video journal entries.

The MTV VMA'06 Video Diary Contest winners will be chosen from the following participating regions: Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Serbia & Montenegro, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards will be available to a potential viewing audience of more than 1.3 billion people via MTV's worldwide network of 50 channels reaching 481.5 million households as well as through syndication. The 2006 VMAs convergent and original online programming will reach the entire interactive community via MTV's 43 Web sites around the world.

CTV, Canada's largest private broadcaster, offers a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It has the number-one national newscast, CTV National News With Lloyd Robertson, and is the number-one choice for prime-time viewing. CTV owns 21 conventional television stations across Canada and has interests in 17 specialty channels, including the number-one Canadian specialty channel, TSN. CTV is owned by Bell Globemedia, Canada's premier multi-media company. More information about CTV may be found on the company website at www.ctv.ca.

- CTV-

For more information, contact:

Iain Christiansen, CTV Inc., 416.332.4265 or ichristiansen@ctv.ca
Renée Dupuis, CTV Inc., 416.332.4596 or reneedupuis@ctv.ca

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