• To tie-in with the upcoming action/adventure blockbuster G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, VBSI has partnered with Paramount Pictures International to create a themed promotional competition and crossplatform support campaign. Launching on 13th July, www.mtv-gijoe.com will feature a competition to win a trip to Dubai, jet skis and film merchandise, along with news and information about the movie. MTV channels will also run a 60" on air competition spot to drive viewers online. The competition will be open to MTV viewers across Europe and Latin America.
• Olympus is launching its most recent TV campaign with a pan-European media owner with a series of spots on MTV celebrating the return of its legendary Olympus PEN camera. 50 years since the launch of the original, the brand new PEN combines the simplicity of a compact camera with a variety of creative features and the technological capability of an SLR. The two week long TV campaign aimed at a style and design conscious audience starts on the 13th July and will run across Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.

Consumer Products

• France
  Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products joined more than 150 international fashion labels to present its newest range of SpongeBob by SpongeBob products at the hugely successful first-ever ‘Under the Louvre’ event at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, from 26-28 June.
• Germany
  NVCP Germany and Panini have extended their current agreement by launching a new SpongeBob SquarePants branded 48-page colouring book and two 32-page hardback colour story books. Available at all good books shops and newsagents across Austria, Germany and Switzerland, the colouring book will launch in July with the new story books rolling out from September.

Programme Sales

• MTV Networks International has closed a slew of programme sales deals for its Nickelodeon and MTV brands with several key broadcasters across Asia, Canada, Europe and Latin America:
  • France Television (France) has picked up The Wild Thornberrys for the first time with Denmark’s DR Ramasjang relicensing the Nickelodeon show and DR1 taking seasons 1+2 of pre-school show Ni-Hao Kai-Lan and seasons 1+2 of tween live action show, iCarly. SIC (Portugal) will air iCarly for the first time this year and Mexico’s Televisa has extended its deal by taking seasons 2+3 of the hit show. SpongeBob SquarePants and Drake and Josh’s Merry Christmas Special have also been picked up by Televisa, with Brazil’s TV Cultura taking pre-school hits, Wonder Pets! and Dora the Explorer.
  • In Canada, Much Music has purchased MTV’s My Own, One Hit Wonders of the 80s and 40 Naughty Celebrity Scandals with the territory’s Music Plus airing newly launched, Nitro Circus for the first time, along with new episodes of Punk’d, A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila, My Fabulous Life, Jackass and Fist of Zen. Meanwhile, MTV’s American Mall and Rock Band Special have been picked up by TV8 in Malaysia.