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muchmusic usa to Premiere Groundbreaking Program on January 20

IMX to Fuse Live Television with Interactive Game Play

Cross-Platform Interactive Technology Provided by HSX

NEW YORK, NY, December 16, 2002 – muchmusic usa, the nation’s only viewer-driven all music network, will take live television and the interactive game play to an unprecedented level when it fuses the two together and premieres IMX: Interactive Music Exchange on Monday, January 20 at 6 PM EST.

In development for almost a year, IMX is a fully converged music industry simulation game. Through the power of muchmusic usa’s web site, www.mmusa.tv and utilizing the proven interactive technology of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX), a leading interactive gaming technology and research company, viewers will be empowered to become real-life music executives, investing “IMX dollars” to buy, hold or sell the stock of their chosen artists, albums, and songs. With each investment, participants can make or break artists as they look to increase their overall portfolio, enabling them to redeem valuable prizes, such as, the latest CDs to Sony PlayStations. The valuation of each artist and their securities will constantly fluctuate depending on the Billboard charts, radio airplay, soundscan, concert sales and other real market variables.

In conjunction with the interactive game, muchmusic usa will premiere a daily live IMX show on Monday, January 20th at 6 PM EST, which will air each weekday. The show will be hosted by Juliya, of mmusa’s heavy metal showcase URANIUM; Marianela, who previously hosted Latin television’s MHz HOT; and Steven Smith, formerly a VH-1 personality. The one-hour program will help recap the day’s trading, the value of each featured artist and song, and speculate on the future of the market. Joining the trio each day will be a wide variety of music industry insiders, from the day’s hot hitmakers to record company executives to music journalists. A market style ticker on the bottom of the screen will update viewers on how each artist did during the day’s trading.

“muchmusic usa’s mission is to provide its viewers with a real voice. What better way for a viewer’s voice to be heard than by investing in an artist he or she loves?” muchmusic usa President Marc Juris stated. “Our success and growth over the last year has occurred because we recognize that viewers want ownership and control of what they listen to and watch. We have developed technology that empowers our audience to create their own videos, select our video rotation, and even to host the shows we broadcast. Both the IMX program and game is the next step in this endeavor, by encompassing the technological advances of the web, the popularity of online games, and the potential of live television.”

Like all muchmusic usa programming, IMX is driven by dynamic online content that fosters repeat traffic. The IMX online game will feature music video previews, music downloads, and a wide range of market research tools for the individual portfolios of game participants, including airplay stats and sales charts. Once registered, each player will be given “IMX dollars”, an individual account, and the ability to make trades and recoup investments. And as with all mmusa content, users gather as a community and voice their opinions on bulletin boards, which will also be included in real time on the daily on-air show.

IMX is like fantasy football, but with rock stars,” continues Juris. “The applications it can embrace are infinitely broad – from broadband and the digital set-top box to wireless devices and e-commerce. It’s a new kind of entertainment experience that will captivate our tech-centric young viewers, and also cable operators who are eager to drive the demand for digital set-top boxes and high-speed services.”

The technology that powers the interactive music game was developed with HSX. Like other HSX games, web users will be able to invest in real time. Just as box office results guide share prices of HSX interactive games such as MovieStocks and StarBonds, HSX will provide IMX with the technology for constantly updated real market measure, such as Billboard chart data to underline all music trading.

The IMX program will air Monday – Friday at 6:00 PM. Encores air Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Midnight, Saturdays at 1:00 PM and 1:30 AM and Sundays at 11:00 AM and 10:00 PM. All times Eastern Standard.

About muchmusic usa
muchmusic usa is the nation’s only viewer-driven all music network, featuring music videos and live concerts in an all-music-all-the-time format. The network programming is viewer influenced and generated. On muchmusic usa, viewers voice their opinions, influence what’s on the air, participate in discovering new music and even create music video programming to air on the network. For more information about muchmusic usa, please visit our Web site at www.mmusatv.

muchmusic usa is owned and managed by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. A subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) and NBC, Rainbow has been at the forefront of innovation in programming for more than 20 years. Rainbow also manages AMC, WE: Women’s Entertainment, The Independent Film Channel, Mag Rack, Rainbow Sports Networks and News 12 Networks as well as the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. In addition, Rainbow is a fifty-percent partner in FOX Sports Net.

About Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX)
Hollywood Stock Exchange (“HSX”) is a leading interactive gaming technology and research company, acquired by Cantor Index Holdings in May 2001. Through its patented virtual specialist technology and licensing agreements with third parties, HSX is able to provide consumers with an unrivalled interactive experience. Virtual stock exchanges, such as www.hsx.com allow users to buy and sell virtual shares of entertainment and other assets using virtual currencies such as the “Hollywood Dollar H$”. Trading data derived from the virtual stock market is collected and delivered as market research for entertainment, consumer product and financial institutions.

Press Contacts

  • Matthew Frankel
    Rainbow Media
    516-803-5141

  • Sal Cataldi
    Cataldi PR
    212
    244-9797