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, +1-212-446-1860, , or Whit Clay, +1-212-446-1864, , for PRIMEDIA; or Investors - Jim Magrone of PRIMEDIA, +1-212-745-0634, Web site: http://www.primedia.com/ http://www.apartmentguide.com/ http://www.primedia.com/divisions/cgg/apartmentpublications

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