2012 MTV Awards to Debut 'Best Hero' Award

MTV today announced the first-ever live social voting category BEST HERO for the "2012 MTV Movie Awards" as part of its broader digital, social and multi-screen initiatives to engage fans across all screens and platforms before, during and after the show. The "2012 MTV Movie Awards" will air live on Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on MTV.

Beginning today through to the live show, fans can vote for the nominees for the official new category BEST HERO presented by Sprint via Twitter using associated hashtags, including: Harry Potter (Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Pt 2, #votepotter), Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games, #votekatniss), Thor (Thor, #votethor), Captain America (Captain America, #votecaptain) and Jenko (21 Jump Street, #votejenko). In addition, fans can track the real-time results from the time the category launches all the way through the live show via MTV's Twitter Tracker available at MovieAwards.MTV.com. The winner will be presented with the Golden Popcorn statue during the "2012 MTV Movie Awards."

In another first, MTV will introduce a new Facebook tracker, created with Offerpop, that will highlight and visualize fan likes and shares of key show moments from the MTV Facebook page.

"MTV continues to pioneer the intersection of television, digital and social media at this year's Movie Awards which will break new ground with a fan-voted social category, a first-time Facebook visualization and the next iteration of our Twitter Tracker," said Stephen Friedman, President of MTV.

During the show, MTV will launch an immersive second-screen co-viewing experience, All Access Live, that will live across all its digital and mobile properties and provide fans with tools to discuss and share show moments in real time.

One initiative, the Twitter Tracker will measure social buzz on Twitter and provide an eye-popping visualization of the popularity of the show's various moments in a moving timeline. Fans will be able to click on individual moments to see how many tweets per minute the moment is generating, read a sampling of tweets, and share images of the moment across their social graph. Sprint is the presenting sponsor of the BEST HERO category and the Twitter Tracker in partnership with Stamen Design and SnappyTV.

"Sprint is excited to partner for the second year with the MTV Movie Awards to enhance the viewers' ability to engage with a show they love by voting for their favorite movie hero and tracking social conversations in real-time via the Twitter Tracker," said Andrea Molette, director of media, Sprint. "Among the top four carriers, only Sprint delivers a truly unlimited pricing plan with no metering, throttling or overages, so fans of the MTV Movie Awards can use their mobile device to vote without worrying about additional charges or reduced data speeds."

In addition, as part of the All Access Live experience, fans can:

· View six different live camera angles: red carpet, dressing room, paparazzi, audience, balcony and MTV cut (a curated mix from the various cams)

· Share show moments across their social graph via MTV's Watch & Share

· Connect and discuss with other fans via MTV WatchWith Chat

· Celebs will be creating animated gifs of themselves on the red carpet via the Revlon Gif Photobooth, which will then be curated on MTV.com and MTV's Tumblr

And for the first time, viewers can use Shazam during the broadcast, to keep track of the nominees, performers (, instantly buy the music they like) and follow the conversation live as it happens on social media.

Following the show, MTV will provide fans multiple ways to discuss and celebrate their favorite show moments, including:

· Full red carpet fashion report including comprehensive photo galleries and video interviews

· Highlights of all the backstage action captured by our All Access cams

· Comprehensive editorial coverage of all the most talked about show moments, winners and more

MTV also announced today that rock duo The Black Keys will perform their hit single "Gold On the Ceiling" off their certified RIAA Gold album "El Camino" at the "2012 MTV Movie Awards," and that global music producer-performer, deejay and MTV Push artist Martin Solveig will be the "2012 MTV Movie Awards" house DJ. Solveig will use his trademark eclecticism to create movie music mash-ups that will literally remix some of film's most iconic theme scores, including "Star Wars," "Jaws" and "Pulp Fiction." In addition, chart-topping indie-pop group fun. and rapper Wiz Khalifa will perform.

The "2012 MTV Movie Awards" will feature exclusive footage from Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' highly anticipated film THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, with director, writer, producer Christopher Nolan and actors Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gary Oldman on hand to celebrate the "Dark Knight" trilogy. Hosted by comedian, actor and TV personality Russell Brand, the "2012 MTV Movie Awards" will feature its trademark individuality and irreverence with an impressive list of stars confirmed to hand out the golden popcorn awards including: Emma Stone, recipient of the first-ever MTV Trailblazer Award, Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Adam Sandler, Emma Watson, Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, Logan Lerman, Kristen Stewart, Ezra Miller, Andrew Garfield, Chris Hemsworth, Michael Fassbender, Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg.

Fans can continue voting for the previously announced categories online via MovieAwards.MTV.com through Saturday, June 2. As always, voting for "Movie of the Year" will remain open throughout the live show on Sunday, June 3.

Jesse Ignjatovic/Den of Thieves serves as Executive Producer for the "2012 MTV Movie Awards." Garrett English serves as Executive Producer and Executive In Charge for MTV. Amy Doyle is Executive in Charge of Music and Celebrity Talent. Joanna Bomberg is Executive in Charge of Music Talent. Wendy Plaut serves as Co-Executive Producer and Executive in Charge of Celebrity Talent. Lee Lodge serves as co-Executive Producer.

About MTV:

MTV is the world's premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy(R), Grammy(R) and Peabody(R) award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV's sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is a leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.

About Sprint Nextel:

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 56 million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation's greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.