PRIMEDIA's Consumer Guides Group Acquires Portland, Oregon Apartment Guide

PRIMEDIA's Consumer Guides Group Acquires Portland, Oregon Apartment Guide
Apartment Guide(R) to Enter Portland, or Market; Strengthening Presence in
Northwest United States 


NEW YORK, Dec. 8  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PRIMEDIA's Consumer Guides Group,
the nation's largest provider of apartment and new home directories, announced
today that it has acquired the leading apartment directory serving the Portland,
OR market from Traditional Publishing LLC.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

"PRIMEDIA's Consumer Guides division is clearly the leader in apartment and new
home guides and is continually looking for strategic opportunities to enter new
markets across the country," said Bob Metz, Chief Executive Officer, Consumer
Guides Division. "We believe Traditional Publishing has developed a product and
strong presence in the Portland market that provides us with a unique foundation
to immediately enter the market as the principal provider of apartment listings
information."

Metz continued, "The Consumer Guides Group already has a leading presence in the
Northwest United States, including such major markets as Seattle, Washington. We
are confident that we can capitalize on our Apartment Guide brand by leveraging
Traditional Publishing's relationships and deep listings content while using our
existing distribution network in the Northwest United States to cement our
overall presence there."

With the acquisition, the Consumer Guides Group will marry its Apartment
Guide(R) brand publication and Apartmentguide.com Internet site with the
Portland area apartment listing content of Traditional Publishing to become the
leading provider of apartment listings in that region. In addition, it will be
able to capitalize on PRIMEDIA's DistribuTech business, the largest distributor
of free publications in the United States, which already has a dominant presence
in the Portland market. DistribuTech maintains exclusive community rack programs
with a significant portion of the nation's largest retail chains, including
participating grocery, drug, convenience, video, fitness and other mass
merchandiser locations. DistribuTech's total delivery network includes over
49,000 locations in 38 states.

"This acquisition exemplifies our aggressive approach to expanding our Consumer
Guide's division with strategic entrances into new markets through both
start-ups and acquisitions and the development of new products all of which
combined make this a very low risk, high margin business," added Metz. "We
believe that there are numerous opportunities in front of us in the apartment,
new homes and automobile publications areas and have the support of PRIMEDIA in
helping us reach our full potential."

The Apartment Publications group
(http://www.primedia.com/divisions/cgg/apartmentpublications) consists of the
most extensive group of apartment rental directories in the U.S. and is
comprised of 80 publications in 38 states and Washington, D.C. (74 markets). For
almost 30 years, the group has been anchored by the Apartment Guide(R), its
flagship product, and is supplemented by the Apartment Shoppers Guide. Most of
the guides are published monthly and provided free of charge to apartment
shoppers.

About PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides

PRIMEDIA's Consumer Guides Group is the nation's largest provider of directories
in both the apartment rental and new home buying industries. It publishes more
than 100 consumer directories in 38 states and the District of Columbia, and
owns and operates Internet properties that offer information on apartment
renting and home buying. Its distribution division, DistribuTech, delivers a
total of over 50 million books annually through its nationwide distribution
network. These resources provide advertisers with a most direct and
cost-effective channel to reach their targeted customers.

About PRIMEDIA

PRIMEDIA is the leading targeted media company in the United States, with
positions in consumer and business-to-business markets.  Our properties deliver
content via print as well as video, the Internet and live events and offer
highly effective advertising and marketing solutions in some of the most sought
after niche markets.  With 2002 sales from continuing businesses of $1.5
billion, PRIMEDIA is the #1 special interest magazine publisher in the U.S. with
more than 250 titles.  Our well known brands include Motor Trend, Automobile,
Fly Fisherman, Power & Motoryacht, Creating Keepsakes, Ward's Auto World, and
Registered Rep. The company is also the #1 publisher and distributor of free
consumer guides, including Apartment Guides.  PRIMEDIA Television's leading
brand is the Channel One Network and About is one of the largest sources of
original content on the Internet.  PRIMEDIA's stock symbol is: NYSE: PRM.

   Contacts:

   Media:
   Elliot Sloane  212-446-1860  
   Whit Clay      212-446-1864  

   Investors:
   Jim Magrone    212-745-0634  jmagrone@primed


DATASOURCE: PRIMEDIA



CONTACT:  Media - Elliot Sloane, [phone], ,

or Whit Clay, [phone], , for PRIMEDIA; or Investors

- Jim Magrone of PRIMEDIA, [phone], 



Web site:  http://www.primedia.com/

http://www.apartmentguide.com/

http://www.primedia.com/divisions/cgg/apartmentpublications 

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