PRIMEDIA Continues Roll-Out of Auto Guide Business with Two New Auto G

    Publishing Writers/Business Editors

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2005--PRIMEDIA Inc.'s (NYSE:PRM) Consumer Guides, the country's leading publisher and distributor of apartment, new home and auto guides, today announced the expansion of its Auto Guide into the Research Triangle Area in North Carolina. The Triangle Auto Shoppers Guide, available on January 28th, is a weekly color publication featuring a comprehensive and easy to use listings of used cars, SUVs and trucks for sale by auto dealerships in the Research Triangle, NC area. The Triangle launch follows the successful launch of the Triad Auto Guide, which debuted in the Triad Area (Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem, NC) in November 2004, and the Charlotte Auto Guide, which debuted in the Charlotte, NC market in March of 2004.
    PRIMEDIA's entrance into the auto guide business provides another channel to access the $7.5 billion automotive advertising market and capitalizes on the operating experience, financial strength and reach of its proven guides business and its wholly-owned distribution arm, DistribuTech, which distributes free publications in more than 49,000 locations across the nation. DistribuTech's distinct competitive advantages include having many of the largest and most attractive grocery, drug, and entertainment retailers under exclusive agreements and make it an ideal platform for rapid, successful entry and growth into new markets, evidenced by PRIMEDIA's highly successful Apartment Guide business.
    "PRIMEDIA is the market leader in the free publications business with a solid track record of establishing the preeminent guide brands in the Apartment and New Home industries," said Bob Metz, chief executive officer, PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides. "The move into the car and truck sales advertising was a natural extension that requires minimal capital investment and effectively taps into our publishing experience, understanding of consumers and advertisers and unsurpassed distribution presence across the country. We spent a lot of time listening to our customers in Charlotte, and, as a result, our Auto Publication has quickly become one of their favored uses of marketing dollars. We are very encouraged by the feedback we are getting from both auto dealers and consumers, and are confident that the Triad and Triangle Auto Guides will provide significant value-added for advertisers and consumers in these markets."
    Premiering in the Triad Area last quarter, the Triad Auto Guide and its Web site www.triadautoguide.com, feature more than 1,300 used cars and trucks from 45 auto dealers in the area, including Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem, NC. Using a "shop and compare" format, the Guide can accommodate up to 48 vehicles per page, allowing consumers to quickly and efficiently locate the exact car they are looking for. The Guide is currently available in more than 500 locations across the Triad area, including publication racks found in major retailers such as Harris Teeter, Eckerd Drugs and Blockbuster, making it one of the most visible and widely distributed sources of used automobile and truck information in the Triad market.
    The Triangle Auto Shoppers Guide, will offer consumers in the Triangle area, including Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, NC, a broad selection of used cars, SUVs and trucks, organized in an easy to use "shop and compare" format. The publication will benefit by immediate distribution in over 650 locations including all Bi-Lo, Harris-Teeter, Blockbuster and Lowes Food stores in the area.
    "Our auto sales are at an all-time high, since we began using the Charlotte Auto Guide," said Mike Cooper of Hendrick Honda, Charlotte NC. "The Guide generates a higher quality of lead than other free publications, and these are the kind of leads that generate sales. We look forward to a long relationship with Auto Guide."

    About PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides

    PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides is the largest publisher and distributor of apartment, new home and auto guides. The segment publishes and distributes 81 Apartment Guides in 75 regional markets with a combined monthly circulation of 1.6 million. Through the Apartment Guides and Apartmentguide.com, the company generated nearly 1 million leases for apartment property managers in 2004. Consumer Guides' New Home Guide offers consumers comprehensive information about new home communities in 19 regional markets. Its newest publication, Auto Guide, features comprehensive and easy to use listings of used cars, SUVs and trucks for sale by auto dealerships in three North Carolina markets. The company's distribution arm, DistribuTech, has exclusive distribution relationships with many of the country's leading supermarkets and chain stores and last year distributed more than 2,000 separate publications to these venues on behalf of other publishing organizations.

    About PRIMEDIA

    PRIMEDIA is the leading targeted media company in the United States. With 2003 revenues of $1.3 billion, our properties comprise more than 200 brands that connect buyers and sellers in more markets than any other media company through our print publications, Web sites, events, newsletters and video programs in four market segments:

CONTACT: PRIMEDIA Inc. Investors Contact: Eric Leeds, 212-745-0885 or Media Contact: Sloane & Company Whit Clay, 212-446-1864 wclay@sloanepr.com

KEYWORD: NORTH CAROLINA NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PUBLISHING ADVERTISING/MARKETING CONSUMER/HOUSEHOLD AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCT SOURCE: PRIMEDIA Inc.'s

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