Genealogy.com Plants the Seeds for Your Family Tree

Web Site Launches A New Look With Exciting, Easy to Use Features Plus Opportunity For A Sneak Peek At Celebrity Family Tree

July 17, 2001 (FREMONT, CALIFORNIA) — Rob Armstrong, Sr. Vice President and General Manager of Genealogy.com, a division of A&E Television Networks, today announced the launch of the updated Web site, and the leading Internet destination for genealogy research and software.

The Web's premiere destination for discovering family stories, www.Genealogy.com now makes researching, building and sharing a family tree easier. It is the most complete destination that provides the ability for visitors to discover their family story and the only place where people can have a peek at famous and celebrity family trees.

"We are excited about the new look and feel of Genealogy.com," said Armstrong. "People love to learn about their history and discover their roots, and we have spent a tremendous amount of time, energy and resources to make this a destination that will truly enrich families and enhance their lives."

People often ask: Who are we? Where did we come from? And worldwide they are keen on tracing their roots. *According to a Maritz Research survey, 120 million adult Americans have an interest in genealogy (33% more than five years earlier). Genealogy continues to gain in popularity — in fact, it's the number two hobby in the United States. Books and software programs abound — and the Internet has made digging up family roots even more accessible.

Your Family Story Is Waiting

Family Tree Maker Web Edition, a new version of the #1 selling software program, helps grow a family tree in as little as a few minutes. It allows new and experienced family enthusiasts - in just three easy steps - to build a family tree, search for ancestors, and share family stories. Here is how it works.

• In just minutes you can build a family tree. Enter as much information as you know about your family and your ancestors. The more information you provide, the better — locations and dates of births and deaths helps Genealogy.com provide more likely matches from its databases. If this is your first attempt at creating a family tree, or if you're unsure of how to proceed, helpful hints and tips will guide you through the process.
• Once you've created your tree, powerful search engines look for possible matches from our vast databases — more than 500 million names and a wealth of other information. We can provide you with pieces of your family story from U.S. Census records, marriage certificates, military records, land ownership records, a detailed family history, or even an extensive branch of your family tree already created by a distant cousin (perhaps even by a relative you didn't even know existed).
• When you have entered this new information, you can instantly create a family home page so that you can share your story with your family. You and your family can collaborate to create a more detailed history of your family.

See Celebrity Family Trees Online

Starting the week of July 16^th viewers can learn about the family trees of royalty, celebrities and entertainers to coincide with BIOGRAPHY^(r) episodes by logging onto www.Genealogy.com. Host Harry Smith will acquaint viewers with the families and ancestors of such notables as William Holden (airs 7/20), prizefighter George Foreman (airs 7/24), and Charlton Heston (airs 8/2), as well John F. Kennedy, Jr., Don Knotts, Carole Lombard, Marlon Brando, Grace Kelly, Perry Como, Carlos Santana and Mary, Queen of Scots, among others. BIOGRAPHY airs on A&E, Monday-Friday at 8:00pm ET/PT. Genealogy.com is also creating family trees to coincide with This Week In History which airs on The History Channel^(r) Mondays at 8:00pm ET/PT. The August 6^th episode will feature Richard Nixon, who is descended from royalty. As his family tree on Genealogy.com will show you, he is related to King Edward I of England, Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth.

Every family has a story and yours is waiting. It's interesting, fun, and rewarding to see your family's story evolve, and www.Genealogy.com makes it easy to keep the story going. Genealogy.com also gives you a lot more to help you along. Message boards provide a great forum for learning about others who have researched your surname or location where your ancestors have lived. Articles on genealogy and related topics — for example, how names were changed (and why) during the immigration process, and a discussion of what "removed" means (it's all relative!) — add dimension to your genealogy experience. Visit the Learning Center to read how-to articles or take online genealogy classes. The Biography^(r) Assistant helps you write a biography of an ancestor or family member — or even your own autobiography. Order the full desktop edition of Family Tree Maker or other products and services online at the Marketplace. Many features of using www.Genealogy.com are free and other subscription and data service are available for a fee.

About Genealogy.com

Genealogy.com is a division of A&E Television Networks. The company 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, it designs, develops, and markets genealogy software applications and online resources that enable family history enthusiasts to research, organize, and document their heritage at home or away. 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^(r) for more than a decade. The company also provides extensive online genealogy resources, including subscriptions that give researchers continuous, easy access to valuable family history information.

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^(r), The History Channel^(r), The Biography Channel^(tm), History International^(tm), AETN Consumer Products, AETN International, AETN Interactive and Genealogy.com. The A&E^(r) web site is located at www.AETV.com, The History Channel at www.HistoryChannel.com, the Biography(r) web site at www.Biography.com, and Genealogy.com at www.Genealogy.com.

Contact Genealogy.com

*Poll conducted by Maritz Marketing Research to uncover the popularity of genealogy.