IT'S LUCKY NUMBER THREE FOR A NEW ROSTER OF CREWS AS MTV KICKS OFF SEASON 3 OF "RANDY JACKSON PRESENTS AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW" THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2009!

America's Hit Reality Dance Competition Series Returns For An Eight-Episode Season Thursday, January 15, at 10 p.m. ET/PT (9 p.m. C)

NEW YORK, December 22, 2008 Fans who have been eagerly awaiting the return of "Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew," will have a very happy new year when MTV premieres Season 3 of the hit reality dance competition series on Thursday, January 15, 2009, at 10 p.m. ET/PT (9 p.m. C), in a special 90-minute episode.

Nine talented new crews will take to the stage as an awaiting national audience tunes in to see which ones have the best moves, the most heart and the swagger of champions. "America's Best Dance Crew" will feature brand-new challenges all designed to make this the most physically demanding season yet. As crew choreography and teamwork are tested like never before, Season 3 promises to deliver more of the incredible stories and heart-stopping routines viewers have come to love, all culminating in a live season finale showdown.

Show devotees can log onto DanceCrew.MTV.com to catch up on Season 2 through full episodes, cast bios and flipbooks for Season 2 winners SuperCr3w and their fellow competitors, the Remote Control blog for show-related info and exclusive behind-the-scenes video interviews. Fans eager for more can head over to Dance.MTV.com to watch and vote on user-uploaded dance videos from fans across the country.

The Season 2 finale of "America's Best Dance Crew" served the competition in August, ranking #1 across all of cable among P12 34 and delivering a 1.8 rating. For the season, the competition series delivered a 1.8 rating among P12-34 and averaged 1.9 million total viewers (P2+) with an average of 1.4 million from our P12 34 core. The full season of "America's Best Dance Crew" reached more than 76.7 million total viewers (P2+) with 35.5 million from the core P12-34 demographic.

The show's online area averaged nearly 470 thousand visits a week and averaged at 390 thousand weekly unique visitors a week, with weekly unique usage that grew +63% from the second season premiere to the finale. Additionally, nearly 23 million page views and more than 6 million streams for content were generated for the second season to date. The show has had 45 million streams since the Season 1 premiere to date.

"America's Best Dance Crew" is hosted by Mario Lopez and shot on location in Los Angeles as dance crews of five to seven members perform their hottest moves for dance supremacy and a $100,000 cash prize. Every performance-themed episode gives insight into the crews' emotion, spirit and inspiration as they step up to the challenge and showcase their innovative choreography and skills. Viewers from around the country choose their favorite crews via text messaging, phone and online voting (http://dancecrew.mtv.com). The two crews with the least number of votes will be up for elimination with judges JC Chasez, Lil Mama and Shane Sparks making the final call on which crew will be sent home. Correspondent Layla Kayleigh covers all the backstage reactions as one crew is eliminated each week, ultimately revealing the nation's best dance crew.

"Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew" is executive produced by "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, Joel Gallen (Tenth Planet Productions), Hip Hop International's Howard Schwartz and Karen Schwartz (the creators of the USA & World Hip Hop Dance Championships), Rob Lee (Bayonne Entertainment), Harriet Sternberg and Abe Hoch (both of Dream Merchant 21 Entertainment). Craig Erwich, Brooke Karzen and Drew Tappon are the executives overseeing the project for Warner Horizon Television ("The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette," "High School Reunion," "Here Come the Newlyweds"). Tony DiSanto, Liz Gateley and Lauren Dolgen are the executives overseeing the project for MTV.

About MTV

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