NEW YORK (November 12, 2002) - Media merchant bank Veronis Suhler Stevenson has just launched the VSS Media 100(sm) an index of 100 major U.S. public media and communications companies that represent all segments. The VSS Media 100 is the latest addition to VSS's media financial tools, which has long focused on five-year industry historical and forecast trends in its annually produced VSS Communications Industry Forecast and VSS Communications Industry Report.

Provided to the media on its Web site (www.vss.com), the VSS Media 100 prominently displays a performance chart, updated throughout each day, showing how the media-weighted composite index compares with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as well as the S&P 500 and NASDAQ indices. Also updated throughout the day is a list of the top 10 media and communications stock gainers and losers.

The highlight of the index is 15-minute delayed stock quotes of 100 leading media companies that can be sorted by industry segment, market cap, highest or lowest share price, or alphabetically, among other search criteria. In addition, the year-to-date historical graphs show industry trends. Rather than using conventional means to track companies by sheer size or market cap, the VSS Media 100 represents a weighted representation of major companies from all media and communications segments.

Using proprietary methodology developed by VSS, this multiple segment approach provides a clearer picture of the ebbs and flows of the media and communications industry public marketplace. The selection criteria used were based mainly on the highly-respected VSS Research Library that includes data from the VSS Communications Industry Forecast and the VSS Communications Industry Report.

The VSS Media 100 was developed to help those who follow the communications industry track its market performance against other averages and to provide users with quick access to public market information on media related companies and trends. It was not developed to make any stock recommendations. The VSS Media 100 may be adjusted as necessary to account for future developments, including mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, or other market developments, and will be reviewed annually.

"The selection was not a strictly by-the-numbers ranking of the largest media companies, but rather the businesses are representative of the full spectrum of segments in the industry tracked by Veronis Suhler Stevenson," said Philip B. Weymouth, managing director at VSS and one of the creators of the Index.

Companies range from media conglomerates (Viacom, Walt Disney Co., AOL Time Warner) to book publishers (John Wiley & Sons Inc., The McGraw-Hill Companies) to business information services (Thomson Corp., Gartner Inc.) to newspaper publishers (New York Times Co., Tribune Co.).

"Media owners and CEOs are interested in daily and year-to-date stock price movements of media companies. The VSS Media 100 was designed to offer a quick snapshot of how the industry is performing at any given moment, compared to other equity benchmarks. In perspective, the VSS Media 100 is a daily service, which complements our long-term, comprehensive media industry research," said Jeffrey T. Stevenson, president and co-chief executive of Veronis Suhler Stevenson.

The VSS Media 100 is powered by FinWin.com. Omaha, Neb.-based FinWin is a provider of dynamic financial data for corporate media Web sites and utilizes technology such as XML and ColdFusion. FinWin is a subsidiary of DTN Market Access, a unit of DTN Information Services, a portfolio company of VS&A Communications Partners III, LP, the private equity affiliate managed by VSS. The firm welcomes feedback from users of the VSS Media 100.

Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a leading independent merchant bank dedicated to the media, communications, and information industries, was founded in 1981. Since its formation, the firm has acted as a financial advisor across the full spectrum of media-industry segments including Broadcast and Cable Television; Newspaper Publishing; Consumer Magazines; Business-Information Services; Consumer, Professional and Educational Books; Business-to-Business Media; Specialty Media & Marketing Services; Entertainment; and the Internet.

VS&A Communications Partners III, L.P., the firm's $1-billon private-equity fund, is exclusively dedicated to investments in the media and communications industries. For further information on VSS merchant banking activities and fund investment portfolio companies, visit www.vss.com.

Contacts:

Frank Musero

Allan Ripp

Kerry Murphy