MTV expands political coverage to mobile

By Dan Butcher

October 14, 2008

Street cred for MTV

In an ongoing effort to bring America's youth coverage of political issues, MTV's Choose or Lose is extending its youth coverage across multiple new media platforms, including mobile.

Today through Election Day on Nov. 4, consumers can watch the new, hour-long program, the "Best of Choose or Lose," exclusively on their mobile phones via MediaFLO USA Inc.'s Flo TV service, airing each Friday at 7 pm EST. Additionally, MTV is now offering Street Team '08 reports in a weekly podcast, which viewers can find on iTunes.

"We've had extraordinary interest in this election from our audience, with more than 80 percent telling us that they're following it closely," said Ian Rowe, senior vice president of public affairs and strategic partnerships for MTV, New York. "We want to reach young people wherever they are, especially in the last few weeks of the election, so we launched this made-for-mobile show.

"This will be very powerful, especially given the large amount of young people who have a mobile phone," he said. "We want to make sure we're reaching our audience on whatever media platform they're consuming content."

MTV's Street Team '08 citizen journalists are making appearances on MTV's Virtual World to speak with young people about the political issues that are most important to them.

MTV has its finger on the pulse of the youth of today

"Generally all of our research shows that mobile subscribers want more up-to-date content, and our target demographic for this is 18-24-year-old males," Mr. Rowe said. "That's a huge demo, and there are obviously lots of first-time voters that are looking for information about the issues they care about most and that are most relevant."

The Choose or Lose "Street Team '08" represents a specially recruited group of 51 citizen journalists -- one from every state and Washington, DC -- who have been covering the 2008 elections from a youth perspective and tailoring their reports for mobile devices.

Young people can now get the latest election coverage on a weekly basis on Flo TV, direct to their mobile phones, as the journalists report on politics, the economy, the environment and all of the issues most important to young voters.

Well, if Leo and Jen say I should vote...

To get the Flo TV service on their phone and watch live mobile TV, consumers can go to http://www.flotv.com or visit an AT&T or Verizon Wireless store.

Flo TV features a lineup of primetime, news, entertainment and children's content from various entertainment brands.

It is available to AT&T and Verizon Wireless subscribers in 58 major metropolitan areas nationwide.

Fans can also check out and download the latest Choose or Lose reports on iTunes.

A number of Choose or Lose Street Team'08 reporters are making live appearances in MTV's Virtual World, talking about politics with young people.

Approximately 250 people signed on to chat with the New York Street Team '08 reporter Sara Benincasa.

On October 7, MTV's Washington Street Teamer Cory Midgarden also hit the Virtual World for an in-depth discussion on the latest political issues.

As Election Day approaches, consumers can check http://ChooseorLose.com for announcements about upcoming appearances.

Young people can check out all Street Team '08 citizen journalist reports now on http://ChooseorLose.com or on the MTV Virtual World Think homepage.

Since the Street Team was formed, the members have contributed weekly, multi-media reports -- including short-form videos, blogs, animation, photos and podcasts.

These are distributed via a WAP site at http://m.streetteam08.com, MTV Mobile, Think.MTV.com and to the more than 1,800 sites in the Associated Press Online Video Network, with an aggregate reach of 61 million unique visitors.

Advertisers on MTV Mobile, the music network's channel on FloTV, include Paramount Pictures, the Air Force, JCPenney and Dove.

The WAP site features six stories each week, videos and blog content.

MTV will be promoting the weekly mobile show using their on-air MTVU platform, online at http://www.mtv.com, via an email newsletter and using their mobile platform.

Newspaper giant USA Today and MTV recently ran a political survey of young people, 78 percent of whom were contacted on their mobile phone, which found that most respondents plan to vote for Barack Obama (see story).

"This effort is part of an effort with the Knight Foundation and its initiative to find how mobile has been utilized during this election in ways that have never been done before," Mr. Rowe said. "This is the next step for us, launching mobile content to tap into this segment of our audience looking for up-to-date election info via mobile."