A&E Television Networks Acquires Genealogy.com

Strategic Acquisition Expands AETN's Brand Growth

February 20, 2001 (NEW YORK, NEW YORK) — A&E Television Networks (AETN) has acquired Genealogy.com, LLC, the leading Internet destination for genealogy research and software for the more than 120 million Americans interested in discovering their roots. With this acquisition, AETN extends its diverse historical and biographical line-up by adding family history to the list and enabling Genealogy.com to leverage the company's most recognized brands.

"Whether it's through the web, our television programming or our retail operations, the key to growth is providing customers with many different platforms to enter AETN's multi-media store," said Nickolas Davatzes, President & CEO, A&E Television Networks. "Genealogy.com provides an opportunity for us to capitalize on the growing market for genealogy-related products by integrating its software and online tools with our A&E(r), Biography(r) and The History Channel(r) brands, whose immense popularity underscores the rising market of people with an interest in family history."

"The acquisition provides a strategic fit for both companies, allowing Genealogy.com to integrate its rich tier of family history products and services with AETN's vast line-up of historical and biographical brands," said Genealogy.com's General Manager Rob Armstrong.

In the most recent EquiTrend Study (May/June 2000) measuring television brands for overall quality, The History Channel placed third, A&E fifth and Biography seventh. Another recent study indicated that genealogy is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the U.S., with over 60% of Americans interested in researching their family history.

AETN's web sites (www.HistoryChannel.com, www.AETV.com, and www.Biography.com) feature original databases, content exhibits, games and speeches, and attract an average of more than one million unique visitors per month. Additionally, over 3,000 products are available from the AETN Interactive online stores, including the complete collection of critically-acclaimed home videos and DVDs from both A&E and The History Channel, and the entire "World of A&E" print catalog.

Genealogy.com offers a wide variety of products and services, including its award-winning software application, Family Tree Maker(r) and dynamic ever-growing roster of online subscription products: World Family Tree(r), GenealogyLibrary.com™, 1900 Census, and International & Passenger Records. In addition, the site hosts GenForum message boards, the most widely used genealogy community resource, with more than six million messages posted. Furthermore, family history enthusiasts can use the tools at www.genealogy.com to do everything from utilizing a step-by-step guide about getting started in genealogy, to searching for information on their own family members. Combined, these resources give researchers valuable tools to quickly and easily explore their family history, saving them literally years of research.

About A&E Television Networks

A&E Television Networks, a joint venture of The Hearst Corporation, ABC, Inc. and NBC, is an award-winning, international media company offering consumers a diverse communications environment ranging from television programming, magazine publishing, web sites, books, music CDs to home videos/DVDs, as well as supporting nationwide educational initiatives. A&E Television Networks is comprised of A&E Network, The History Channel, The Biography Channel, History International, AETN Consumer Products, AETN International and AETN Interactive. The A&E web site is located at www.AETV.com, The History Channel at www.HistoryChannel.com, and the Biography web site at www.Biography.com.

About Genealogy.com, LLC

Genealogy.com enriches the lives of its customers by providing the tools, resources, and community that empower them to uncover and share their unique family stories. Headquartered in Fremont, CA, the company designs, develops, and markets genealogy software applications and online resources that enable family history enthusiasts to research, organize, and document their heritage. Developing software since 1984, Genealogy.com continues to be the leader in the genealogy technology space, producing the # -1 selling family tree software-Family Tree Maker-for more than a decade. The company provides extensive online genealogy resources, including subscriptions that give researchers continuous, easy access to valuable family history information. Additional information about Genealogy.com can be found at www.Genealogy.com.

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