General Media International Inc. (GMI) names Anthony Guccione to head new media and filmed entertainment divisions; Guccione to continue as chairman of Fashion And Design Television (FAD TV) in newly created joint venture with GMI.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 1995--Anthony Guccione, founder and chairman of Fashion And Design Television (FAD TV), has been named executive vice president of new media and filmed entertainment for General Media International (GMI), the publishing and multimedia concern principally known for its Penthouse, Omni, Saturday Evening Review and Longevity titles, as well as its growing film, television and interactive operations, it was announced by Kathy Keeton, president and chief operating officer of the company.

Keeton and Guccione also announced the formation of a joint venture between GMI and FAD TV, a lifestyle channel that focuses on fashion, design, travel, entertainment and current trends in popular culture. Widely reported by the media as "the fashion equivalent of MTV," the channel was featured prominently in Robert Altman's recently released film "Ready To Wear," in which Kim Basinger portrays a FAD TV reporter. Guccione, 34, will spearhead FAD TV's entry in the television, cable and new media universe and will oversee GMI's film, television, video and new media operations.

"Tony is the perfect choice for this new position as he is familiar with every facet of our operations, having spent several years working in a number of different divisions at GMI prior to creating FAD TV," notes Keeton. "His experience has given him the necessary understanding of both electronic and interactive media to help guide GMI into the next century."

"I am very pleased having GMI as the joint venture partner of FAD TV," said Guccione. "General Media has a tremendously successful track record in launching new media vehicles, as well as being a pioneer in the development of new media to complement and expand its print activities. GMI now provides FAD TV with the resources to generate programming and expedite viewer delivery of FAD TV, despite the severe lack of cable channel capacity. Until cable channel space becomes available, we are going to explore every other form of media to showcase FAD TV, including telephone delivery, direct broadcast satellite, interactive technologies, and even broadcast syndication."

Noting that a network television special is currently in the works, Guccione stated that GMI is committed to creating a FAD TV television series for domestic and international syndication, with production of the pilot to begin shortly. According the Andrew Steiner, vice president, entertainment division/international sales, "I am confident that we will be successful in bringing this series into every world territory due to the positive interest that FAD TV has already generated."

Further plans for the channel envision on-line and other interactive services as well as a series of CD-ROMs "that will combine compelling multimedia entertainment content with an interactive interface," said Guccione. Advertising will be integrated in a non-intrusive manner, and the CD-ROMs will also include a direct link communications feature to permit on-line home shopping via the PC.

A similar vision is being applied to GMI. "Technology continues to bring the size of the world community, and this dramatically increases the value of globally recognized brand names like Penthouse and Omni. We are dedicated to leveraging the recognition value, extensive libraries of content, and appeal of these brand names across new and emerging media such as CD-ROMs, on-line services and the Internet."

Penthouse's recent launch two months ago on the World Wide Web has broken every known record, achieving an initial level of 850,000 "hits" (accesses) per day, which has just jumped to 2.3 million with newly added bandwidth capacity.

Guccione notes that additional plans call for the expansion of GMI's film, television and video activities. "We are committed to launching a Penthouse Pay Per View Network," adds Guccione. GMI has also created a separate film division that is engaged in the development and production of mainstream feature films, several of which will be announced during the Cannes Film Festival.

To assist in this expansion, GMI has engaged Jeff Berg of International Creative Management (ICM), the law firm of Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca & Fischer as well as prominent strategic entertainment and technology partners to exploit its properties in existing and emerging media platforms.

Anthony Guccione is a member of the board of directors of General Media International. He is a magna cum laude graduate in economics from Harvard University.

CONTACT: General Media International

Jackie Markham, 212/702-6000, ext. 1901

203/927-4237 (weekend)

or

Robin Weitz, Baker/Winokur/Ryder

for Anthony Guccione/New Media Division

310/277-6200 ext. 342