MTV granted Games exclusive

MTV Networks China has received exclusive landing rights into the Beijing Olympic Village at the Beijing Olympics 2008. Approved by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), MTV China will be the only music television channel to broadcast over the private Olympic CATV network to all of the Olympic related competition venues and hotels from June 24, 2008.

During the time, MTV China will reschedule the programs and produce two new programs - MTV Burr and 100 MTV Ways to Rock the Olympic Games - to make MTV the top entertainment channel in the Village.

"We are very pleased that MTV is invited to televise in the Olympic Villages," says Li Yifei, executive vice president and managing director of MTV Networks Greater China.

Athletes and journalists from the world who are staying in the Olympic Village will be able to watch MTV's programming as well as to experience the authentic Beijing through MTV during the Games. With the new MTV Burr, viewers will be introduced to a truly local take on the culture, food and entertainment of Beijing.

"Burr" means "pretty much" in the Beijing dialect. MTV Burr is a 20-episodes program running from July 8 to Sep 24 to introduce the quaint yet glamorous Beijing life, from special dishes to leisure activities, obscure hangout spots and Chinese dialects.

100 MTV Ways to Rock the Olympic Games is a contest that has viewers sending pictures and videos that embody the festive Olympic spirit from May 1 to August 8.

May 1st marks the beginning of the 100-day countdown to the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Any tidbit that shows off your Olympic Games knowledge can be submitted to the official website at www.mtvchina.com.

Participants stand a chance to be the weekly winner and the winning entry will enter MTV's Top 100 Ideas that best represent MTV in the Olympics.

(China Daily 05/06/2008 page19)