MTV Presents BIOrhythm: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Special Episode Premieres in Honor of Martin Luther King Day on January 16th at 3:00 PM

Business Wire, Jan 7, 1999

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Jan 7, 1999--In a special presentation of MTV's unique biographical series BIOrhythm, the channel is premiering BIOrhythm: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Saturday, January, 16th at 3:00pm. MTV will also be airing encore presentations of BIOrhythm: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Sunday, January 17th at 10:00am and 10:00pm and on the actual holiday, Monday, January 18th at 9:00am, 4:00pm and 10:30pm.

Working in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Foundation, this powerful episode incorporates music, rare footage, photographs, and King's own words to present a historical and emotional account of this passionate leader's fight for civil rights.

BIOrhythm recognizes that music can be a powerful storytelling device, and consequently, lets the music tell the story rather than a narrator. BIOrhythm: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. uses an effective selection of music by a variety of artists including Rob Zombie, Sonny & Cher, Dusty Springfield, Paul McCartney & Wings, and Peggy Lee so the audience will not only see and hear King's struggle, they will feel it. In MTV fashion, this poignant special is a heart-rending journey which presents King's life and legacy as a music video.

BIOrhythm: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will begin by transporting viewers back to the segregated South where King first experienced hate and injustice, and follow his life as he fought for freedom until his untimely death. Footage used to tell this compelling story of King's short life includes rare photographs of King as an innocent child to pictures of his final moments. The footage is layered with voice-overs from King himself explaining how he faced racism while growing up in the South and was denied entrance to public places such as the local movie theater and community pool. Viewers will witness King's serious side as a young minister initiating a bus boycott as well as lighter times with his family, joking with friends at his final birthday and shooting pool.

"Recently, young people have been exposed to some horrible hate crimes, from a man dragged to his death from the back of a truck because he was black to the murder of a teenager because he was gay," said Brian Graden, Executive Vice President of Television Programming for MTV. "Today's generation of kids are experiencing hate first-hand, while Martin Luther King died trying to free people from it. BIOrhythm will bring his fight for freedom alive to them in a way they can relate to and understand."

BIOrhythm debuted on June 30, 1998 as the highest-rated music show in MTV's history. The second season will premiere in its regularly scheduled timeslot on Monday, January 25, 1999 at 10:30 pm with BIOrhythm: Jim Carrey. Other personalities who have been featured on BIOrhythm include Madonna, Tupac Shakur and Princess Diana.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc., owns and operates five cable television programming services -- MTV: Music Television, M2: Music Television, VH1, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, and TV Land -- all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. Information about MTV: Music Television and M2: Music Television is available on MTV Online, on America Online (Keyword: MTV) and the World Wide Web (http://mtv.com).