"PUNK'D" AND "PAULY D" ARE A WINNING COMBINATION ON THURSDAY NIGHT FOR MTV, PREMIERING AS THE TOP TWO CABLE SERIES OF THE DAY

Last Night's Premieres Ranked as the Top Social Series of the Night, With "Punk'd" And "Pauly D" Trending on Twitter, Along with Multiple Related Topics From Each Show

NEW YORK, NY (March 30, 2012) - MTV's new night of "Punk'd" and "The Pauly D Project" is off to a stellar start, with "Punk'd" earning a 2.7 P12-34 rating and 3.2 million total viewers in its premiere at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, and "Pauly D" garnering a 2.72 P12-34 rating and 2.9 million total viewers at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT, making them the top two cable series of the day among P12-34.

Last night's premieres also dominated the social conversation, ranking as the most social series - with "Punk'd" #1 and "Pauly D" #2 - on the night, according to SocialGuide.com. In addition, both series not only trended on Twitter, but multiple related topics from each show trended as well.

Next week's all-new episode of "Punk'd" at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT will feature celebrity host Bam Margera, punking "Teen Wolf's" Tyler Posey, "Jersey Shore's" Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, and Tyler, The Creator. Click here for a special sneak peek.

MTV's pop culture phenomenon series "Punk'd" is back for an all-new season, featuring the hottest celebrities in Hollywood, and the most hilarious and crazy moments in "Punk'd" history. This time Ashton Kutcher has handed over the hosting reins to a new celebrity each week, including Justin Bieber, Nick Cannon, Miley Cyrus, Lucy Hale, Kellan Lutz, Bam Margera, Mac Miller, Heather Morris, Hayden Panettiere, "Punk'd" alumni Dax Shepard, and Tyler, The Creator. Rounding out the ranks of unsuspecting celebrity marks are Dianna Agron, Ron Artest, Lauren Conrad, "Fantasy Factory's" Rob Dyrdek, Zac Efron, Shenae Grimes, Ian Harding, Liam Hemsworth, Vanessa Hudgens, Josh Hutcherson, Khloe Kardashian Odom, Sean Kingston, Demi Lovato, "Jersey Shore's" Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Chloe Moretz, New Boyz, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, "Teen Wolf's" Tyler Posey, Darrelle Revis, Emma Roberts, Cody Simpson, Taylor Swift and The Wanted.

"Punk'd" is executive produced by Katalyst's Jason Goldberg and Ashton Kutcher. Lauren Dolgen, Colin Nash, Kristina Edwards and Jennifer Russakoff are the Executives in Charge for MTV.

On next week's all-new episode of "The Pauly D Project" at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT, Ryan's fight at Ultra makes everyone tense, as the crew says goodbye to Rhode Island and moves into their Las Vegas suite. While enjoying their first night out at the clubs, Ryan has another meltdown, possibly putting Pauly's residency in jeopardy. Click here for a special sneak peek.

"The Pauly D Project" is produced by 495 Productions, the production company behind "Jersey Shore." SallyAnn Salsano serves as executive producer of the series for 495 Productions, and Jacquelyn French executive produces for MTV. Janay Dutton is Executive in Charge of Production for MTV. Larry Rudolph and Adam Leber serve as executive producers of the "The Pauly D Project" for ReignDeer Entertainment.

"The Pauly D Project" will also air internationally on MTV channels around the world starting in June 2012.

Source: Nielsen. 03/29/12. Live+SD.

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.