Ashton International Media Announces 10th Anniversary.Sports Editors/Business Editors WORCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2003 Ashton International Media, Inc. is pleased to announce its 10th anniversary, a cruise division producing themed events and the launch of the company's web site www.ashtoninternationalmedia.com. Founded in October of 1993 with the publication of an eight-page newsletter titled International Figure Skating Figure skating is a sport enjoyed all round the world. Originally based in European countries, the sport is enjoying a major expansion in the countries of East Asia. The international governing body of the sport is the International Skating Union (ISU). , the property was officially launched as a magazine in March 1994 and became the world's largest magazine for the sport of figure skating figure skating Sport in which ice skaters, singly or in pairs, perform various jumps, spins, and footwork. The figure skate blade has a special serrated toe pick, or toe rake, at the front. in 1996. "From the outset of International Figure Skating we were determined to create not only the world's largest magazine for the sport but a franchise around the title," said Mark A. Lund, publisher of International Figure Skating and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ashton International Media. "Our goal for the next 10 years is to continue to expand the franchise of International Figure Skating." Over the years the company has produced numerous events in connection with its flagship property including International Figure Skating's Annual Caribbean Cruise in 2000 and 2001 on the voyager class The Voyager Class refers to a design of post-Panamax cruise ships owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International cruiselines. The only passenger ships in the world that are larger are RCI's Freedom Class and Cunard's RMS Queen Mary 2. ships of Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (OSE: RCL NYSE: RCL) is a Norwegian-American cruise ship company based in Miami, Florida. It is a brand of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., with 21 ships in service and one more under construction. All the ships have names ending in "of the Seas. that include permanent ice rinks. In 2002 the company published FROZEN ASSETS Frozen Assets is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 14 1964 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title Biffen's Millions, and in the United Kingdom on August 14 1964 by Herbert Jenkins, London. : The New Order of Figure Skating a hardcover book published under the Ashton label. In 1999 the company began its expansion program with the launch of Women's Basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. , the only magazine devoted to this dynamic sport and one of the few women's sports periodicals still published in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . "There has been no question that publishing a sports specific title on the women's market has been a challenge," said Lund. "Fortunately our scale can allow a magazine such as Women's Basketball to remain profitable despite a small paid circulation." In 2002 the company continued its expansion program by acquiring Doll Reader, Teddy Bear and Friends and Volleyball volleyball, outdoor or indoor ball and net game played on a level court. An upright net, 3 ft (or 1 m) high, the top of which stands 8 ft (2.43 m) from the ground for men, 7 ft 4 1/8 in (2. magazines from Primedia Enthusiast Publications, Inc. a subsidiary of Primedia, Inc. "Our goal with this acquisition was to continue to develop Ashton as a publisher of enthusiast titles. The economies you realize by owning multiple titles along the same operating platform are quite favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. ," said Lund. Since the acquisition of the aforementioned titles, Ashton has invested over $200,000 in circulation initiatives to grow these properties while expanding the titles into special events. Doll Reader Travels to France and Volleyball's First Annual Caribbean Cruise are planned for 2004. Today also marks the launch of the company's travel group as it begins operations of its CruiseOne (www.cruiseone.com) franchise to develop themed cruise events. The franchise was originally purchased in 2001 but not activated until 2003. "The launch of our cruise division with the CruiseOne franchise will contribute greatly to the overall operation of the company," said Lund. "As the actual travel agent we will be able to derive the economic benefit of producing these themed events with International Figure Skating and Volleyball and be able to produce events in partnership with entities outside of our current properties." The company's web site www.ashtoninternationalmedia.com was also launched today to act as a portal to the company's properties and operations. Headquartered in Worcester, Massachusetts, Ashton International Media recently retained AdMedia Partners, Inc. a New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. investment bank, to explore strategic opportunities for the company. |
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