NEWS!!!!!
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Delivers on 10 City Promise for 1999 -- Six Months Ahead of Schedule
PR Newswire - May 27, 1999 08:45
New Technology, Partnerships, Business Model Aid in Success
PASADENA, Calif., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch (Nasdaq: TMCS) today announced that the analyst expectation of ten new city guides for 1999 has already been met, six months ahead of schedule. Since the beginning of the year, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch has launched city guides in Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, San Diego, Tampa Bay, Sacramento, San Jose and Canberra, Australia. This rapid growth is due to several factors, including strong partnerships with local media companies, a new technology platform that links content and related transactions, and a new regional hub business model that speeds roll-out and lowers per city costs.
"We've experienced phenomenal growth rolling out city guides across the country," said David Hagan, president of the City Guides & Central Support Group for Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch. "But we're not just building sites, we're building a deeper network of online local information and transactions capability that help consumers go out and get things done in their own communities. We think these kinds of practical tools for living are the future of the Internet."
Each new city guide is designed to become more than just a source of information about restaurants, movies, local events, travel and shopping. The continually updated sites integrate content with transactions, allowing consumers to act on their decisions and get things done, including purchasing tickets, making reservations, participating in local auctions, buying from local merchants and even finding new friends. Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch establishes a local team to ensure that each site is centered on locally produced content rather than aggregated links.
The growth of Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch can be attributed to strong partnerships with major media organizations in most markets. Local media partners look to CitySearch to boost their online presence and expand the reach of their own promotions. The partnerships result in a convergence between traditional and new media. For instance, in Salt Lake City, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch works together with KENZ, The End 107.5, creating co-branded content around the DJ's programs.
"Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch has given us the opportunity to extend our name into a new medium," said Bruce Jones, programming director for KENZ, The End 107.5. "Our DJ's talk about new movies and concerts every week on the air, but we had nowhere to send our listeners for more information or to find the venue where they could see it. But now with Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, we can present content and help our listeners act on that information."
Another key to the success of Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch city guides is strong advertiser relations. Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch's primary goal is to help clients experience growth in sales from their online presence. More and more companies are turning to Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch to help promote their business.
"We've received a tremendous response from our partnership with Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch," said Sal Patel, owner of the Union Square Plaza Hotel in San Francisco. "Our investment paid for itself within the first few months. We even get guests from all over the world, such as Japan, Malaysia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain."
About Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch (Nasdaq: TMCS) is an award-winning provider of locally-developed online information and transaction services relevant to people's everyday lives. The TMCS family of Web sites includes www.citysearch.com, www.ticketmaster.com, www.cityauction.com, www.match.com, and www.livedaily.com. CitySearch (www.citysearch.com) develops city guides that provide rich local information on arts and entertainment, recreation, shopping and community, and integrate transactions to help people get things done. Ticketmaster Online (www.ticketmaster.com) provides online ticketing through an exclusive agreement with Ticketmaster Corporation, the leading provider and distributor of event tickets, selling annually approximately 75 million tickets, representing gross receipts in excess of 2.5 billion dollars, for more than 250,000 events and 3,750 clients. CityAuction (www.cityauction.com) is a person-to-person online auction site that provides a time-saving way to buy and sell items in local and global marketplaces. Match.Com (www.match.com), a leading matchmaking and dating service offers single adults a convenient, fun and private environment for meeting other singles. The service, which has registered more than 1.8 million members to date, is responsible for arranging over 200,000 relationships and has confirmed more than 650 marriages. TMCS announced the pending acquisition of Match.com on May 17, 1999. Live Daily (www.livedaily.com) is a premier Internet destination site for daily concert and music news, tour announcements, artist features and exclusive national ticketing information. Livedaily users benefit from a direct connection to tickets via Ticketmaster Online and local music information via CitySearch's growing network of city guides. These services provide a local portal that allows people to perform everyday activities online, from planning an evening out, to buying tickets, to local shopping. Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch is headquartered in Pasadena, California.
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch is the owner or licensee of its name and logo trademarks and service marks. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
For More Information:
Visit Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch on the World Wide Web at www.CitySearch.com, www.Ticketmaster.com, www.CityAuction.com, www.match.com, www.Livedaily.com. Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch corporate headquarters is located at 790 East Colorado Boulevard - Suite 200, Pasadena, California, 91101; +1-626-405-0050; fax +1-626-405-9929; info@citysearch.com.
SOURCE Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch
/CONTACT: Nancy Scott Lyon, 626-660-2530, nancy_lyon@citysearch.com, or
Sara Strickland, 626-660-2758, sara@citysearch.com, both of Ticketmaster
Online-CitySearch/
/Web site: ticketmaster.com
/Web site: cityauction.com
/Web site: match.com
/Web site: livedaily.com
/Web site: citysearch.com
(TMCS)
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