NEWS!NEWS!NEWS!
Isn't Rogers Comm, the one distributing @home in Canada?
THIS IS AWESOME NEWS!
quicken.excite.com
Excite , Rogers venture
(Full text of press release from Canada NewsWire)
Excite and Rogers Communications form joint venture to serve growing
Canadian internet market
Excite Canada to Offer Personalized Canadian Portal Backed by Rogers
Media
REDWOOD CITY, Calif./TORONTO, May 3 /CNW/ - Excite, Inc. (NASDAQ: XCIT) and Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI) (Toronto:
RCI.A and RCI.B: NYSE: RG) today announced a joint venture between Excite and Rogers Media. The 50:50 joint venture is initially valued
at approximately $30 million Canadian, each of the partners having contributed assets valued at $15 million. The joint venture will be managed
by a management committee with equal representation from each company. Excite Canada will provide Excite, Inc.'s award-winning Internet
services in a localized format to the entire Canadian marketplace backed by the considerable marketing and Canadian content resources
provided by Rogers.
The joint venture further establishes Rogers as the leading New Media Internet company in Canada by extending its previously announced
relationships with At Home Canada, Intuit as the provider of the Quicken Financial Network, www.quicken.ca., Electric Library and Bid.com.
For Excite, it continues the company's international strategy of establishing its business and brand in markets around the globe by choosing the
best local partner in each region. Excite will have now six joint ventures around the world and will have launched localized services for eleven
countries when Excite Canada goes live later this year.
Rogers, with its vast online and off-line media resources and use of At Home to deliver high-speed Internet access, is an ideal partner for
Excite as we execute on our strategy of delivering personalized Internet services across multiple bands and devices,'' said George Bell, CEO
of Excite. With the reach of Rogers Media and Excite's leading Web service and our combined vision for Internet content, Excite Canada can
be a powerful New Media solution for the growing market of Internet users in Canada.''
Excite Canada combines the easy Web navigation and compelling content of Excite's service with Rogers' marketing expertise and Internet
distribution power,'' said Brian Segal, President and CEO, Maclean Hunter Publishing, and responsible for Rogers' interactive media business.
This combination allows us to build a Canadian content solution that has the potential to take a leading position in the growing Canadian
Internet advertising market.''
Excite Canada will offer both new and experienced Internet users a personalized and Canadian content-rich starting points on the Web. This
will include multiple content areas covering subjects such as Canadian news, weather, financial information, sports, entertainment and music,
plus advanced search technology, free Web-based e-mail, communities and online shopping. By personalizing their Excite Canada Start Page,
Canadian users will have access to Canadian news and information based on their interests and regions. Excite Canada will allow users to
search Canadian sites exclusively or sites around the world. In addition, Excite Canada will provide advertisers access to a significant number
of Web users, as well as considerable technical expertise in areas such as advertisement display, targeting and online marketing.
About Excite
Excite, Inc. is a global Internet media company that attracts, over 16 million unique consumers monthly to its flagship portal services,
excite.com and webcrawler.com, and specializes in the delivery of highly targeted marketing solutions through its subsidiary MatchLogic, Inc.
One of the best known brands on the Internet, the Excite brand is now recognized by more than 50 million North Americans. Excite offers
localized services for ten countries including the US; the company has joint ventures with Itochu for Excite Japan, Liberty One for Excite
Australia, Telecom Italia for Excite Italy, British Telecom for Excite UK, Retevision for Excite Retevision Espana and Rogers Media for Excite
Canada. Excite, Inc., founded in 1994, is based in Redwood City, Calif.
For more investor information on Excite, please call our shareholder services hotline at 1-888-924-XCIT (9248).
(Unique user and brand recognition statistics quoted are from, respectively: Relevant Knowledge, Opinion Research Corp.)
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including but not limited to: the successful
launch of Excite Canada; the acceptance by consumers of Excite Canada functionality; general economic conditions; and other risks detailed in
the company's annual report on Form 10K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and its other reports filed with the SEC.
About Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is Canada's national communications company engaged in cellular and Digital PCS communications through its
81% owned subsidiary Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications Inc., in cable television, high speed Internet access and video retailing through
its wholly-owned subsidiary Rogers Cablesystems Limited, and in radio and television broadcasting, publishing and new media businesses
through its wholly owned subsidiary Rogers Media Inc.
/For further information: Excite, Inc., Marci Gottlieb, (650) 569-2838, marci(at)excitecorp.com; Rogers Media Inc., Brian Segal, (416)
596-5306, bsegal(at)mhpublishing.com/
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