MTV music franchise 120 Minutes is returning to the network's sister service.
120 Minutes will beginning airing on MTV2 later this year, said network officials. In the interim, 120 Seconds will bow as a weekly online version show March 18 on MTV Hive at www.mtvhive.com/120, the brand's curated site for passionate music fans.
Matt Pinfield, the respected VJ,who hosted the early edition of 120 Minutes, will lead the new show on-air show, as well as its online iteration. Currently hosting middays at WRXP 101.9 FM in New York, Pinfield sprang into TV from radio in 1995, when joined the MTV's Music and Talent unit and hosted a variety of network shows and over 100 specials during his tenure. In 2001, he became vice president of A & R and artist development for Columbia Records, signing and overseeing the making of albums by many gold and platinum acts. In 2005, he was asked by The Rolling Stones to host their international radio interview for Premiere networks that featured all four band members interviewed together for the first time in over 35 years. In 2006, Pinfield came back to TV as host of VH1's VSpot Top 20 Countdown, HDNet's Soundoff with Matt Pinfield, as well as co-starring as himself on Nickelodeon's The Naked Brothers Band.
"I've always loved working with MTV and its passionate staff. I am elated and proud to be part of bringing back one of the most influential and longest running music shows in the network's history," stated Pinfield. "Everywhere I go, people from all over the world-talk about how much 120 Minutes shaped their musical tastes and how much they missed it. The show helped expose, and ultimately, break new artists. MTV's historical role in breaking artists of all genres can never be underestimated. I'm looking forward to the exciting present and future of 120 Minutes and 120 Seconds!"
"The signature of MTV's 120 Minutes was the unparalleled passion for and perspective on the latest music and artists that were off the mainstream media's radar," said Amy Doyle, executive vice president, Music and Talent, MTV. "Being able to bring back that music ethos and Matt Pinfield back as host was essential but we also needed to reinvent the 120 Minutes franchise through a multiscreen experience that a whole new generation of music fans would appreciate - and we believe we've accomplished that with MTV Hive's 120 Seconds and MTV2's 120 Minutes."
