MTV Releases First Quarter FANTASY ELECTION '12 Statistics

MTV today announced highlights from the "first quarter" of the "MTV Fantasy Election '12" season. "Fantasy Election '12" is a first-of-its kind web and mobile game that gives young people a new way to hold candidates accountable and rewards them for getting involved in the 2012 elections.

After the first two weeks of gameplay, President Barack Obama ranks as the highest scoring candidate, with Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR, House, incumbent) and Linda Lingle (R-HI, Senate, open seat) ranking second and third, respectively. Governor Mitt Romney has the eighth highest score in the game so far, and Republicans dominate the scoreboard overall, claiming 14 of the top 20 scores to date. Governor Romney has generated more points in the category of constituent engagement than any other player in the game, with President Obama and Presidential candidate Gary Johnson coming in second and third in that category. Luke Messer (R-IN, House, open seat), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC, House, incumbent) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA, Senate, incumbent) rank as the most transparent candidates in "Fantasy Election '12" so far.

The signature element of MTV's "Power of 12" campaign, "Fantasy Election '12" enables users to draft a team of candidates pursuing the presidency or congress, earning and losing points based on how their players behave in the real world. Candidate performance is determined by objective data, provided by a range of non-partisan organizations, in five key areas: constituent engagement, honesty, transparency, civility, and public opinion.

MTV plans to release new findings every other week from today through Election Day. Select "first quarter" findings include:

CANDIDATES

Fantasy Election '12 Scoreboard Leaders (Highest Total Scores To Date):
Barack Obama, Presidency (D): 10,867 points
Tim Griffin, House, Arkansas (R): 7,991 points
Linda Lingle, House, Hawaii (R): 7,745 points
Chip Cravaak, House, Minnesota (R): 7,727 points
Frank Pallone Jr., House, New Jersey (D): 7,513 points
Scott Rigell, House, Virginia (R): 7,345 points
Lynn Jenkins, House, Kansas (R): 7,099 points
Mitt Romney, Presidency (R): 6,997 points
Randy Forbes, House, Virginia (R): 6,801 points
Gary Delong, House, California (R): 6,791 points
Bill Flores, House, Texas (R): 6,537 points
Renee Ellmers, House, North Carolina (R): 6,423 points
Michael G. Fitzpatrick, House, Pennsylvania (R): 5,759 points
Linda McMahon, Senate, Pennsylvania (R): 5,741 points
Joe Wilson, House, South Carolina (R): 5,661 points
Lois J. Frankel, House, Florida (D): 5,495 points
Phil Roe, House, Tennessee (R): 5,425 points
Robert Menendez, Senate, New Jersey (D): 5,415 points
Maria Cantwell, Senate, Washington (D): 5,391 points
Dianne Feinstein, Senate, California (D): 5,315 points

Swing Candidates, week of 9/17 (Highest Point Swings up and down, week over week):
Accelerating:
Gary Johnson, Presidency (O) +1270
Jill Stein, Presidency (O) +480
Barack Obama, Presidency (D) +420
Tim Griffin, House, Arkansas (R) +380
Reid Ribble, House, Wisconsin (R) +350

Decelerating:
Mitt Romney, Presidency (R) -1170
Phil Gingrey, House, Georgia (R) -530
Connie Mack, Senate, Florida (R) -440
Tommy G. Thompson, Senate, Wisconsin (R) -420
Michael G. Riley, House, Rhode Island (R) -400

Most Engaged:
Highest Engagement Scores:
Mitt Romney, Presidency (R)
Barack Obama, Presidency (D)
Gary Johnson, Presidency (O)
Tim Griffin, House, Arkansas (R)
Lynn Jenkins, House, Kansas (R)
Robert Menendez, Senate, New Jersey (D)
Chip Cravaack, House, Minnesota (R)
George Allen, Senate, Virginia (R)
Linda McMahon, Senate, Connecticut (R)
Michele Bachmann, House, Minnesota (R)

Most Transparent:
Highest Transparency Scores:
Luke Messer, House, Indiana (R)
Joe Wilson, House, South Carolina (R)
Maria Cantwell, Senate, Washington (D)
Brian Doyle, House, South Carolina (D), Tim Murray, House, Oklahoma (D) and several others tied for fourth place

PLAYERS

In addition to earning points for candidate behavior, players of "Fantasy Election '12" can earn bonus points for getting involved with the election – including watching or reading campaign-related news, testing their political smarts or checking in to Election '12-related events. Just last week, players of "Fantasy Election '12" checked in more than 17,000 pieces of election-related content on partner news sites Buzzfeed.com/politics, POLITICO.com and Powerof12.org. New York, Florida and Minnesota have logged the most foursquare check-ins to date, and the top five shows or channels most checked in to via GetGlue are:

Good Morning America
The McLaughlin Group
Current TV
ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer
20/20

As of today, Florida and Pennsylvania each claim two of the top five highest scoring teams in the game. Other battleground states including Ohio, North Carolina, Colorado, Indiana and Michigan are represented by the top 20 highest scoring Fantasy Election '12 teams.

Players can create leagues up until October 20, 2012. To create a league, users will need between five to 12 participants. From there, each player will build a "dream team" of candidates by either hand-selecting politicians, or choosing the "pre-ranked" option. Candidate drafts happen automatically on Saturday of each week. Each week, players can add, drop or trade candidates based on performance.

Thousands of people will win prizes for playing "Fantasy Election '12." One grand prize winner will win a "Fantasy VMA Weekend" that includes a trip for the winner and three friends to attend the 2013 MTV "Video Music Awards," along with $25,000 cash. Other top prizes include $10,000 cash, big screen TVs, home theatre systems, Lenovo IdeaPad Ultrabook laptops, and more. MTV will give away over 3,000 total prizes by mid-November, with dozens of people winning iTunes gift cards, discounts to Amazon.com, exclusive MTV content and other prizes on a daily basis.

"Fantasy Election '12" was developed by HYFN, a renowned digital agency who has created social experiences for some of the most recognized brands in the world including Nike, Coke, Disney, Universal and more. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is the principal funder of the game, providing a $250,000 grant.

Building on MTV's nearly 20-year Emmy and Peabody Award-winning political legacy with "Choose or Lose," MTV's "Power of 12" campaign is built specifically to reflect the Millennial generation and changes in the economic and political climate, and is designed to empower them to have a major impact on Election Day and beyond. 45 million 18-29 year olds will be eligible to vote in the 2012 election, representing the largest potential voting bloc in the country.

For information on MTV's "Power of 12" campaign please visit www.Powerof12.org. For information on "Fantasy Election '12" or to form a league now, go to FantasyElection.MTV.com.

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®, Grammy® and Peabody® 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.

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