Audio Video News

Primedia, the leading targeted media company, announced March 30 the newsstand arrival of its recently launched Connected Guide To The Digital Home. Part of Primedia's Home Technology & Photography (HT&P) Group, Connected is the first consumer magazine dedicated entirely to adopting and integrating audio, video, information, telecommunications, security and other personal and home technologies.

Upholding its position as the only magazine focusing on the products, experiences and aspirations unique to the digital lifestyle, the inaugural issue previews Web-enabled refrigerators, Microsoft and Intel's vision of the "smart house," high-end home gym gear, states the case for coaxial cable and offers an inside guide to high-def hotels. Connected hits newsstands today and is available for purchase with a cover price of $4.99.

As testament to the growing endorsement of the concept of digital living and the realization of its full potential, the premiere issue of Connected also features a broad range of advertisers at the forefront of this evolution including Sony, Fujitsu, Onkyo and Bose. Through Connected, brands influencing the design, performance and Implementation of technologies that benefit consumers' lifestyles are exposed to the new market where 29% of U.S. homes will have networks installed by 2008 (Parks Associates) and where a significant number of consumers spend $169 per month on Web access/content, cell phone and digital cable T.V. (Pew Internet & American Life Project Survey).

"Connected chronicles a melding of entertainment, communication and information technologies that promise to enrich and expand our lives," said Irwin Kornfeld, vice president and group publisher of Primedia's HT&P Group. "We're leveraging Primedia's trusted status in the enthusiast market to expose tech-aggressive consumers to the benefits of life in the digital world."

Kornfeld added, "There is a burgeoning group of smart, successful people out there looking for new and converging technologies to create safer, better informed and more comfortable lives. Connected proves that accessing and understanding these technologies and how they work together, is no longer the stuff of sci-fi movies-it's now a reality."

Each issue of Connected will feature several regular sections, including:

-- Concept - A look at what is new and noteworthy in the world of home technology

-- Content - A unique programming guide to such content areas as DVD's, pay-per-view and video-on-demand

-- Application - A guide to using technology

-- Environment - Audio-video interiors

-- Gear - The latest must-haves for a digital lifestyle

"Connected is the first and only source to successfully present this next wave of technology demand," said Carol Campbell, publisher of Connected. "Connecting to technology now goes beyond the installation of the latest and greatest home theater system. It's about living in a space where everything works together logically and seamlessly, more often than not with a consumer electronics interface."

Initially, Connected will be published eight times a year with bi-monthly publication for the first three issues - March/April, May/June and July/August, monthly publication from September-December, 2004 and in 2005 with a bi-monthly January/February edition. Connected will deliver a circulation rate base of 70,000.

About Connected
Connected is the authority on home and personal technology convergence in which digital products and systems interconnect to provide maximum efficiency and enjoyment. The magazine has evolved from the former Audio Video Interiors, the first magazine dedicated to the advent of the home theater. Connected is published by the Home Technology & Photography (HT&P) Group of Primedia, Inc., the leading targeted media company.

About Primedia's Home Technology & Photography Group
Primedia's Home Technology & Photography Group represents the largest network of publications reaching the home technology market, as well as The Home Entertainment Shows in New York and San Francisco for 2004. HT&P's portfolio of eight entertainment technology magazines reaches more than three million smart, affluent tech-aggressive enthusiasts. Home Theater, Stereophile, Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Connected, Shutterbug, Petersen's PHOTOgraphic, eDigitalPhoto, and another recent addition, Best, are read by consumers who share a passion for fine sound, imagery and the technology that enables its enjoyment. These are people who seek out and appreciate the "best" environments and experiences life has to offer.