Neopets Is Coming To Nickelodeon

Neopets Is Coming To Nickelodeon

World's First and Most Successful Global, Youth-Focused Virtual World Premieres All New 'Mini-Shows' on Nickelodeon Television

One of Many New Initiatives from Neopets, Including Neovision, the Second Annual Altador Cup Global Gaming Event and New Pet Customization Features

LOS ANGELES, May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Neopets.com, the world's leading youth community and online virtual world will launch the first series of animated Neopets "Mini-Shows" on Nickelodeon television, beginning June 23rd. The Mini-Shows will air in between Nickelodeon programming and reveal pivotal story moments from the world of Neopia, such as characters outsmarting each other, escaping dangers, taking chances, or setting evil plans in motion.

Kyra Reppen, Neopets' Senior Vice President and General Manager, commented, "The Neopets Mini-Shows bring together Nickelodeon's powerhouse of expertise in making content for kids and tweens with the talented creative team at the Neopets studio. These animated shorts will bring to life the characters and adventures that make up the virtual world of Neopia."

The Mini-Shows capture the unique voice and quirky humor of Neopets, introducing the brand to the Nickelodeon TV audience. Many of the spots will feature surprise, multiple endings. The Mini-Shows will bring to screen different characters, from the mad scientist Lab Ray creature in its elusive laboratory, to the Trunkard, an underwater Petpet hoovering the ocean floor, to Sophie the Swamp Witch mixing potions in the Haunted Woods. Neopets fans will also find hidden clues embedded in each episode that will help them unlock puzzles and trivia questions on the Neopets site.

The Mini-Shows are just one of the many new initiatives being rolled out from Neopets. The site's interactive entertainment experience is expanding with a variety of exciting initiatives to further engage and entertain the Neopets' global audience, including:

   -- Neovision, which launches today, a broadband video player that      showcases Neopets-themed user submitted content, as well as Neopets      animated originals and upcoming Mini-Shows.   -- New pet customization features which provide Neopets owners with new      ways to interact with and dress their Neopets, including new clothing      and accessories.   -- A new website layout with easier to use navigation, rich graphics, an      all-new Games Room and a home page that displays special messaging      from your Neopet.   

Neopets is also bringing back the successful Altador Cup global gaming event throughout the month of June. Launching June 1, the second annual site wide tournament brings the global community together to choose one of sixteen teams and compete for the ultimate Yooyuball championship, a fantasy sport loosely based on a hybrid of soccer and lacrosse. Players will earn virtual trophies and prizes. As many as 10.4 million unique visitors participated in last year's Altador Cup, where the Haunted Woods team took home the trophy. The Neoboards are already buzzing in anticipation of this year's challenge.

The Altador Cup gaming event comes on the heels of Neopets' Daily Dare global gaming event which received 7 million unique visitors in March with 10 million virtual prizes claimed, lifting total site traffic by +22%. Neopets averages nearly 300 million game plays per month.

About Neopets

With more than 40 million global memberships registered, Neopets is the largest global youth-focused virtual world. Neopets has created a strong connection with its audience through its characters and stories, which extend into merchandise, publishing, wireless and other venues. Neopets creates new content daily in 11 languages and reaches nearly 12 million monthly unique visitors. With over 200 games, daily and weekly contests, discussion boards, quests and thousands of virtual items to collect, Neopets members are as passionate about the site as they are about their virtual pets.

Neopets is part of the Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group community of sites, which includes Nicktropolis, Nick.com/metv, Nick.com, Nickjr.com, Nick Arcade, Nick-at-nite.com, Quizilla, The-N.com, Noggin.com, Neopets, ParentsConnect, GoCityKids, AddictingGames and Shockwave.

Neopets is a division of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA; VIA.B), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Marianne Romano, +1-310-752-8208, Marianne.romano@nick.com, or
Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, Joanna.roses@nick.com, both of MTVN Kids &
Family Group Communications; or Rebecca Lee of The Lippin Group,
+1-323-965-1990, rlee@lippingroup.com

Web site: http://www.nick.com/
http://neopets.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: *Art available upon request

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Profile: International Entertainment