mtvU SELECTS POLOPOLY’s CONTENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION TO POWER NETWORK OF 550 ONLINE COLLEGE NEWSPAPERS
World Class Publishing Platform Brings Expanded Multi-Media Capabilities, Community Features and Flexibility to Largest Network of Online Campus Publications
New York, NY – January 30, 2008 - mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network and a division of Viacom Inc.’s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks, today announced that it has selected Polopoly – a top content management solutions provider to clients including Sony Ericsson, Ikea, Corelio and dozens of other European media companies – to power the next generation of its end-to-end College Publisher platform. College Publisher is the only online publishing system designed specifically for the unique needs of the campus newsroom, and is currently used by the more than 550 college newspaper members in mtvU’s College Media Network.
The new Web-based framework, which begins rolling out this semester, will enable student-run publications to interact with readers in much more meaningful ways. The system is optimized for today’s 24-hour multi-media news cycle, allowing publishers to quickly develop and deliver compelling news packages that combine text (stories or blogs), photos, video and audio – without writing a single line of code. Further, upgraded community features – including user-developed profiles, forums and blogs, as well as Facebook distribution – will enable papers to cultivate a rich dialogue with and amongst their readers.
“The students running today’s college newspapers are pioneering the digital newsroom of tomorrow, and our new publishing platform will better prepare them for success,” said Stephen Friedman, GM, mtvU. “Polopoly’s best-in-class capabilities will unlock new forms of digital reporting, and we’re excited to partner with the company and the hundreds of College Media Network papers to offer students a more enriching, interactive news experience.”
“We are very proud that the College Media Network has entrusted Polopoly to satisfy their digital publishing needs,” says Gustaf Sahlman, CEO, Polopoly. “This is a highly innovative member of the Viacom family, and the full rollout will give us a very significant user footprint in the US market. Our long experience of demanding media clients in Europe has put us in a great position to offer attractive solutions for the web enterprise market in the United States.”
mtvU acquired the College Media Network, the largest interactive network of online college newspapers in the US, in August 2006. All network members run on College Publisher, which allows multiple users to control all facets of digital publishing, including content management, multimedia administration and online advertising. The College Media Network also enables national and local advertisers to connect with college students via the most relevant media brand in their lives. Since the mtvU acquisition, the network has grown from 450 campus publications to 550, and now serves institutions with a combined enrollment of over 5.5 million students, reaching an average of 5 million unique users each month.