NBC, MTV Align for New Granada America Series

SANTA MONICA: NBC and MTV have entered into a programming partnership for Granada America’s new I‘m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, with MTV set to air weekly marathons of the show following the NBC broadcast, as well as never-before-seen footage and real-time commentary.

The new series will debut as a two-hour television event on June 1 and will follow with broadcasts on Mondays through Thursdays for the first three weeks. During the fourth week of June, the series will be telecast Monday through Wednesday, with the finale on June 24. Each Sunday, beginning June 7, MTV will air a marathon of the week’s episodes, with previously unaired footage and cast member commentary. The networks are jointly casting for the series, and each network will cross promote the show on air.

"We are thrilled to team up with MTV in an innovative rollout of this entertainment series," said Ben Silverman, the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. "MTV makes the perfect companion network with its young audience demographics as we are always looking for new platforms and marketing models to bring attention to our shows."

"We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to bring fresh content to our viewers and build our stars," added Tony DiSanto, the head of MTV programming. "This partnership with NBC is a symbiotic new model where our talent gets a new platform on a broadcast network and we get great content in real time. In this new media landscape, it’s important to seek out new and efficient ways to create and present content—blow up models, break barriers and challenge the norm. This is an exciting next step in synergistic programming across networks and a great between Granada America, NBC and MTV."

"By any measure, this partnership represents a breakthrough in entertainment event programming," noted Paul Buccieri, the CEO of Granada America. "Together we have crafted a deal that will ensure that I‘m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! has the optimum opportunity to reach the largest possible audience this Summer and grow into an enduring franchise for both MTV and NBC.

The show drops ten celebrities into a jungle to face fun and comedic challenges designed to test their survival skills. In each episode, viewers vote off one contestant. The last remaining star will be crowned King or Queen of the Jungle, winning a prize for their favorite charity. Cast members will include: Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt of MTV’s The Hills), basketball player and TV personality John Salley, supermodel and TV star Janice Dickinson, former American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar, actor Stephen Baldwin and professional wrestler and beauty queen Torrie Wilson. Additional celebrity contestants will be named soon along with the hosts of the show.