Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / July 2009

http://www.channelcanada.com/Article3161.html

16 & PREGNANT on MTV
Posted on Monday, July 13, 2009 - 09:58 AM

MTV tackles one of the most controversial and thought-provoking topics
in its new series 16 & PREGNANT, premiering June 20 at 10 p.m. ET on
MTV.

The series takes an intimate look inside the lives of pregnant
teenagers as they face the challenges that come with being a young
parent while dealing with releationships, finance and school.

Already embraced by U.S. audiences, 16 & PREGNANT has garnered record
ratings after only three episodes, resulting in a second season pick-
up.

The 16 & PREGNANT Season Two release, which was distributed by MTV
International, is included below for your reference.

For reference, here's the U.S. press release describing the series in
more details:

MTV Greenlights Season Two of Hit Series '16 & Pregnant'

Reflecting on one of the most controversial and thought-provoking
topics, MTV President of Programming Tony DiSanto announced today that
after only 3 episodes aired, the network is picking up a second season
of the captivating series "16 and Pregnant." In addition, MTV will
also air "16 and Pregnant: Life After Labor" finale special, hosted by
Dr. Drew Pinsky, on Thursday, July 23rd at 10PM ET/PT. "16 & Pregnant"
can currently be seen on Thursdays at 10PM ET/PT.

The series follows the lives of teenage girls for 5-7 months as they
navigate the unfamiliar territory and uncertainty of being pregnant.
MTV captured every moment and reaction in real time, including several
of the births and how the young mothers and fathers dealt with new
parenthood. The series tackles a variety of issues including marriage,
adoption, attending school and dealing with gossip. Cameras continued
to follow the teens for a significant amount of time after they gave
birth to document how they coped with taking care of their infants in
addition to balancing adult responsibilities with teenage life.

The "16 and Pregnant: Life After Labor" finale special, hosted by Dr.
Drew Pinsky, will be an issue-driven forum on teen pregnancy. All six
of the teen mothers profiled on season one of the series will
participate in this event. Dr. Drew will discuss each girl's episode,
specific issues and challenges and update us on what's going on in
their lives now. This open discussion will provide a platform to
address the controversial topics that were shown in season one: birth
control, adoption, abortion, marriage, religion, gossip, finances,
high school graduation and employment. During the show, Dr. Drew will
field questions by members of the live studio audience, as well as
select emails from viewers.

Since its debut, "16 & Pregnant," has garnered amazing ratings
reaching an audience of over 31 million views and consistently taking
the #1 spot in its time period among F12-34 and #1 across all of
television among F18-24. In addition, the show has improved its time
period by 162% among P12-34 and 184% among F12-34. "16 & Pregnant" has
also found success online. Since premiering on June 11th, the show
delivered over 3.4M streams to date, making it the second most
streamed series on MTV.com within their time period underneath "The
Hills."

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is
working with MTV to support "16 & Pregnant." In partnership with MTV,
The National Campaign will continue to create viewing guides for each
episode so educators, key organizations and individuals can use the
show, which will be available rights free for distribution, as a
platform to have an honest discussion around sexual health and
pregnancy with teens. Additionally, The National Campaign launched an
online resource supporting the show at www.stayteen.org to answer
viewers' most commonly asked questions surrounding pregnancy and
provide young people with the information they need to be fully
informed on this topic.

"16 & Pregnant" is Executive Produced by Morgan J Freeman.