MTV Selects Verizon as Exclusive Telecommunications Provider for 10th Season of 'The Real World'

NEW YORK - The tenth season of MTV's popular reality show, "The Real World," debuts tonight. Verizon is the exclusive telecommunications provider for the summer series that features seven young adults who share a New York City house. Relationships and tensions develop naturally under the camera's constant glare as members of the group discuss their varying backgrounds, politics, careers and dreams.

"Verizon was a great help in setting up the house's telecommunications services," said Chris Specht, director of Business Development for Bunim/Murray Productions. "Given our special communications needs, it was a very complex job. Verizon's customer service representatives and technicians stepped up and really made it all happen very quickly, which was a huge help in building 'the Real World' house."

The show's cast and crew call on Verizon for local and long-distance services, special calling features like Caller ID and voice mail and the continuous live Web cam streaming video. The housemates' lightning-fast Internet hook-ups are made possible with Verizon's digital subscriber line (DSL) technology. The services allow cast members living in the house to communicate easily with the outside world and be watched around the clock.

"'The Real World' show provides an opportunity for us to reach a fast-growing segment of consumers who want all of our services," said Mark Adams, director of Consumer Market Offer for Verizon Long Distance. "Working with the 'Real World' team has been an outstanding experience bringing together two innovative companies. It's the continuation of a crucial marketing trend at Verizon and we are very excited about this opportunity."

The current crew was selected from around the country. The show's producers, Bunim-Murray Productions, selected the seven new housemates from a blizzard of 35,000 audition tapes, up from 3,000 in the first year. The Verizon-sponsored casting for the 11th season of "The Real World" has already begun; applications are available online at www.MTV.com.

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Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 112 million access line equivalents and 27 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. A Fortune 10 company with approximately 260,000 employees and more than $65 billion in annual revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.