Advertising Age Announces Top 300 Grossing Magazines; PC Gamer Receives Highest Ranking of Any Game Publication.

BRISBANE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 30, 1998--Advertising Age has published its "Ad Age 300: The Annual Countdown" (June 15, 1998 issue), the yearly listing of the top 300 grossing publications.

Among the honorees was market-leading PC Gamer, ranked 202nd -- the highest spot of any electronic game publication. The PC Gamer placement was up from 238th in 1996, on the strength of total revenues (combined advertising and circulation sales) a full 25.7% higher than those of the previous year.

With its 202nd place finish, PC Gamer outranked every magazine in the electronic gaming field, including GamePro (213), Electronic Gaming Monthly (223), and Computer Gaming World (227). But PC Gamer also boasted a better showing than many well-known mainstream and affinity publications, such as Billboard (221), George (216), National Geographic Traveler (233), Working Woman (235), Consumer's Digest (244), Family PC (254), Mirabella (258), Wine Spectator (260), and Men's Fitness (279).

"We're obviously very excited to have led the gaming field in Ad Age's Top 300," said Matt Firme, Publisher of PC Gamer. "This is an important list, because it's based on the tangible choice both our readers and our advertisers have made in committing their dollars to PC Gamer."

Of the top 300 magazines making the list, 216 are consumer and 84 are trade publications. Some other general highlights: -0-

-    During 1997, consumer magazines advanced 5.1% in pages and 8.9%
     in ad revenue to $21.4 billion

-    Business publications, including trade, health, and computer
     magazines, added 2.7% more pages than in 1996 and 8.9% more
     dollars to $4.4 billion

-    Circulation accounted for more than 34% of the top 300's gross
     revenue, representing a 3.7% growth from 1996. Subscription
     revenue grew 4.1% to $6.3 billion, while newsstand sales rose to
     $2.6 billion -- up 2.7% vs. growth of only 0.4% in 1996

-    Overall ad pages are up 2.5% and ad dollar growth is up 7.1%
     according to Publishers Information Bureau, the monitor of most
     of the consumer publications listed in this report

-    In a related report within the same article, PC Gamer ranked
     third in ad-page growth and third in ad-revenue growth in the
     computer/Internet magazines category

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Imagine Media Inc. (www.imaginemedia.com), founded in 1994, is a privately held media company headquartered in Brisbane. Its publications and Web sites focus on areas of interest which have been revolutionized by the smart uses of digital technology and target people who share passion about these interests.

Offering a mix of three integrated media (print, CD-ROM, and the Internet), Imagine publishes market-leading magazines and Web sites which PC Gamer, PC Accelerator, PSM, Next Generation, Game Buyer, the Imagine Games Network (imaginegames.com), the Daily Entertainment Network (theden.com), Imagine Radio (imagineradio.com), Business 2.0, MacAddict, Maximum PC, Chick Click (ChickClick.com), and the MacAddict Network (macaddict.com).

    CONTACT:  Imagine Publishing
               Ellen Virden, 415/468-4684 ext. 164
               [e-mail]
               http://www.imagine-inc.com