News

The former Audio Video Interiors magazine names former Mediaweek and Cable World editor Bill Gloede as editorial director, and relaunches as the authority on home and personal technology and "The Digital Lifestyle." Primedia has announced The Connected Guide To The Digital Home, the first consumer magazine dedicated entirely to adopting and integrating audio, video, information, telecommunications, security and other personal and home technologies. Formerly known as Audio Video Interiors (AVI), the standard-bearer for the home theater revolution, The Connected Guide To The Digital Home is being introduced as the natural evolution of AVI.

Bill Gloede, previously editor of Mediaweek and Cable World, will assume the role of "Connected's" editorial director. Gloede, a noted industry arbiter of media convergence who has covered the market over the past 20 years, oversees a staff of contributors specializing in a wide array of technologies, product integration and the lifestyles of those up-market early adopters who are considered to be "connected people."

Primedia Announces The Connected Guide To The Digital Home

Beginning with the March/April 2004 issue, "Connected" will aid smart, successful, "tech-aggressive" consumers as they acquire and adapt high-tech solutions to creating and maintaining extraordinary homes and lives.

"Connected" will be published eight times a year, with bi-monthly publication for the first three issues (March/April, May/June, and July/August) and then monthly publication from September-December, 2004, with a bi-monthly January/February, 2005 publication. "Connected" will deliver a circulation rate base of 70,000.

"Audio Video Interiors is really the magazine that started it all. They were not only there first, but AVI was also the only publication to bring a much-needed women's perspective to our industry," said Sam Runco, CEO of Runco International. "As the magazine now transitions into The Connected Guide To The Digital Home I look forward to working with publisher Carol Campbell and her talented team, as they continue to enhance the profile of our business."

"Fujitsu General America is excited to work with The Connected Guide To The Digital Home because its readership will closely mirror our end customer profile, focusing on the enthusiast who demands the highest quality in performance and design," said Tedd Rozylowicz, executive vice president of Fujitsu General America. "We think The Connected Guide To The Digital Home will provide a valuable resource for home owners interested not only in home-entertainment products such as Plasmavision, but other whole-house technologies that enhance consumers' lifestyles."

"The market is demanding a publication that speaks directly to consumers who want to know what to buy, how to get it installed, and how to get the most from their systems and lives," said Carol Campbell, publisher of "Connected". The magazine directly reflects the concurrent growth of the market for connected systems. AVI was the first magazine to represent the home theater market, and we will continue our leadership in the expanding connected systems market. Our advertisers are being led by consumer demand to respond to the convergence market in household and personal systems. . .and so are we."

The market for "Connected" is borne out by the growing interdependence placed on digital devices for home and business user, as stated in several recent industry reports:

• Semico Research estimates that, by 2005, the average person will encounter approximately 300 embedded controllers in their daily lives, in products and appliances of all kinds

• As the consumer electronics market produces more network-capable products and the "I.T." and "A/V" worlds collide, the market for connected home systems is dramatically increasing. Parks Associates projects that by 2008, 29% of U.S. homes will have data networks installed, up from 3% in 1999

• According to its survey "Digital America 2003, The U.S. Consumer Electronics Industry," the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) notes that the proliferation of digital devices has created a connected environment for these products.

The Connected Guide To The Digital Home addresses a growing audience that, according to the most recent Pew Internet & American Life Project survey, is "highly tech-savvy," spending about $169 a month on broadband Internet service, satellite or digital cable TV, cell phones, and Web content. This audience reflects 31% of the 1,677 American adults surveyed last month.

"This discussion of entertainment technology convergence, first profiled by AVI, will expand to reflect strong consumer demand for newly interconnected entertainment, information and telecommunications products and experiences," said editorial director Gloede. "The Connected Guide To The Digital Home is focused on the enthusiast who demands productivity from their networks, to achieve convenience, utility, security and efficiency."

"The Connected Guide To The Digital Home leverages Primedia's strong tradition of enthusiast publications, and is the first publication to serve a burgeoning market of consumers who have discovered that understanding and combining home and personal technologies can improve the quality of their lives," said Irwin Kornfeld, vice president and group publisher of Primedia's Home Technology & Photography (HT&P) Group. "The magazine focuses on the hardware and the software, as well as the ethos and attitudes of electronics enthusiasts at the forefront of digital living."

Consumer-electronics industry veteran Krissy Rushing will serve as editor of "Connected." Rushing is the former executive editor of Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Home Theater Buyer's Guide, Home Theater Interiors, and former managing editor of Home Theater magazine and Digital Home Entertainment. Rushing also served as a contributing editor for AVI and Wired magazine, and is the author of the book, Home Theater Design: Planning and Designing Media-Savvy Interiors.

About The Connected Guide To The Digital Home
The Connected Guide To The Digital Home is the authority on home and personal technology convergence in which digital products and systems interconnect to provide maximum efficiency and enjoyment. The Connected Guide To The Digital Home, evolved from the former Audio Video Interiors, the first magazine dedicated to the advent of the home theater. The Connected Guide To The Digital Home is published by the Home Technology & Photography (HT&P) Group of Primedia, Inc., the leading targeted media company.

About Primedia's Home Technology & Photography Group
Primedia's Home Technology & Photography Group represents the largest network of publications reaching the home technology market as well as The Home Entertainment Shows in New York and San Francisco for 2004. HT&P's portfolio of eight entertainment technology magazines reaches more than three million smart, affluent tech-aggressive enthusiasts. Home Theater, Stereophile, Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, "The Connected Guide To The Digital Home," Shutterbug, Peterson's PHOTOgraphic, eDigitalPhoto, and another recent addition, Best, are read by consumers who share a passion for fine sound, imagery and the technology that enables its enjoyment. These are people who seek out and appreciate the "best" environments and experiences life has to offer.

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.

Editorial Contacts:
Bill Gloede
Editorial Director
110 5th Ave.
New York, NY 10011
(212) 886-3637
bill.gloede@Primedia.com

Krissy Rushing
Editor
6420 Wilshire Blvd, 16th floor
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 782-2053
krissy.rushing@Primedia.com

Advertising Contacts:
Carol Campbell
Publisher
6420 Wilshire Blvd, 16th floor
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 782-2603
carol.campbell@Primedia.com

Ken Stubblefield
Mid-West Advertising Sales Manager
Focus Media & Marketing
(313) 670-0553
Rhinos@speakeasy.net

Joan Giannola
East Coast Advertising Sales Manager
110 Fifth Avenue
NY, NY 10011
(212) 886-3641
joan.giannola@Primedia.com

Lauren Haber
West Coast Ad Sales Manager
6420 Wilshire Blvd, 16th floor
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 782-2604