Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS and Yahoo! Internet Life Report On the Demise of Digital Entertainment Network -DEN- in Their November 2000 Issues.

Business/Technology Editors

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 2000

Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS for the New Economy(TM), the nation's largest business magazine with over 6 million readers, and Yahoo! Internet Life, the most influential consumer magazine covering the Internet with over 4.5 million readers, released their November issues today, which take an in-depth look at Digital Entertainment Network (DEN) by the same author.

Emmy-nominated director Michael Ryan spoke with former DEN employees who collectively stated that DEN was "a funhouse mirror's grotesque of the American capitalist dream."

Through a business lens, Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS reports on the failure of DEN and provides strategic advice on how to avoid such disasters. Its sister publication, Yahoo! Internet Life, looks at the personalities of DEN to see why the promise of the company never lived up to the reality.

"This story of DEN is a story of the times," said Geoffrey Precourt, editor-in-chief, Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS. "Businesses flush with venture capital are spending lavishly to attract talent while losing sight of their core business strategy."

Within the Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS article, Ryan reiterates the importance of a solid business plan and a revenue-generating advertising model. "A few thousand hits a day from viewers did not make DEN a must-buy for any conceivable advertisers." In some ways DEN also gave its advertisers too much power over programming: "...advertisers were granted the right to prescreen programming, and DEN routinely changed material advertisers found offensive." This advertising power put DEN in a no-win situation.

Ryan states that DEN's founders had one of the best business pitches going. However, they did not take the time to do their research. Several analysts advised DEN executives to proceed with caution. It seems clear that most investors were more willing to listen to the siren song of DEN and the lead of VCs like Chase than to pay attention to analysts. Jupiter's Mark Mooradian told USA Today, "Video online is not a compelling experience right now. Video is tough to watch, a poor experience at this stage of the game."

"We saw the story of DEN unfolding as an Alan Ayckbourn play," says Barry Golson, editor-in-chief of Yahoo! Internet Life. "A drama in two parts happening simultaneously in two different publications with two different audiences and story angles."

In the Yahoo! Internet Life article Ryan reports on the demise of DEN, which was supposed to revolutionize entertainment, as a spiraling tale of sexual abuse, an FBI investigation, and a fast and furious flameout.

Some highlights from the Yahoo! Internet Life story include:

-- "Digital Entertainment Network, the artistic-technological wonder, was
transformed into the DEN of infamy, where young boys, drugged and doped and
zombified, were hired and used and bribed and threatened by adult men."

-- "Daniel, (a teen actor who was employed by DEN), claims too, that he was put
on a steady diet of Valium, Vicodan, Xanax, Percocet, Ectasy, pot, and other
drugs to keep him subdued and malleable. Instead of a brilliant career move, it
became a step into the Boogie Nights fantasy of a group of wanna-be Hollywood
players."

About Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS for the New Economy(TM)

The awarding-winning San Francisco-based publication is the nation's largest business magazine, with over 1 million paid circulation and 6.25 million monthly readers. Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS for the New Economy(TM) is the authority on driving business objectives with technology solutions for business leaders motivated to gain competitive advantage and grow their companies. It is the first 21st-century business magazine, written for a new generation of managers who understand that the smart use of technology is essential to business success. Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS challenges readers to rethink their business strategy and practices, and consider new technology solutions and Web resources that will give their business an edge.

About Yahoo! Internet Life

Yahoo! Internet Life (www.yil.com), the most influential consumer magazine about the culture, content and community of the Internet, is a monthly publication of Ziff Davis Media. With its September 2000 issue, Yahoo! Internet Life celebrated its fourth anniversary and surpassed one million in circulation, becoming one of the fastest-growing magazines in the history of publishing. In January 2001, the publication will reach 1.1 million in circulation. Reaching 1 in 9 of all daily Internet users in America, Yahoo! Internet Life serves the New American Consumer(TM) and has firmly established itself as the "Voice of the Net." Notable accolades include: Advertising Age's "Best Magazines of 1998"; "Circulation Excellence Award" from Circulation Management magazine; Folio magazine's "Top 10 Launches for the `90s," three consecutive Top 10 "Hottest Magazine" citations from Adweek and Capell's Circulation Report's "Top 10 Best Performer" 1999.

About Ziff Davis Media Inc.

Ziff Davis Media Inc. (www.ziffdavis.com) is the leading information authority for buying, using, and experiencing technology and the Internet. It is the largest technology and Internet magazine publisher and the sixth largest magazine publisher in the United States. The company is also at the forefront in creating a new generation of consumer and business media that educate, entertain, and empower people. In the United States, Ziff Davis Media publishes 13 industry-leading consumer and business publications: PC Magazine, Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS for the New Economy(TM), Yahoo! Internet Life, FamilyPC, Expedia Travels, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Computer Gaming World, Expert Gamer, eWEEK, Inter@ctive Week, Sm@rt Partner, and The Net Economy. Through a joint venture with International Data Group (IDG), the company also publishes Macworld. Other Ziff Davis Media business units include Ziff Davis Custom Media, which provides custom and contract media solutions within the technology industry; Ziff Davis Media Brand Development, which manages brand development and licensing; eTesting Labs, the industry leader in Internet and technology testing; and Ziff Davis Internet, an Internet-related development group. The company also produces conferences, seminars and Webcasts.