FUTURE NETWORK USA LAUNCHES ACTION SPORTS GROUP –

FRAN RICHARDS NAMED PUBLISHER

CONSUMER & TRADE MAGS TO APPEAR IN 2005

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 30 September 2004: - - Brisbane and San Diego, Calif. (September 27, 2004) – Future Network USA, the country's foremost publisher of cutting edge gaming, computing and musician magazines, is opening a new action sports group with a new set of magazines, it was announced today by president Jonathan Simpson-Bint. Future Network USA is a division of UK-based Future Network, plc [FNET].

Longtime snowboard and skateboard publishing veteran Fran Richards will head the new division, which will be based in San Diego. Richards is best known for his hailed tenure as the VP sales & marketing, publisher at TransWorld Media, where he oversaw group advertising sales for Skateboarding, Snowboarding, Surf, Stance, Ride BMX, TW BMX and Freeze magazines. Since departing TransWorld in August 2002, Richards ran youth marketing firm Modern World LLC, with blue chips clients such as Intrawest Ski Resorts, Island Def Jam Music Group, Warner Strategic Marketing, Interscope Records Group, Pro Tee Systems, Gravity Games LLC and IMG.

The new division fits in perfectly with Future's hot stable of enthusiast titles targeted at young men 18 — 30: PC Gamer, PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation 2 Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine, Mobile PC, Maximum PC, MacAddict, Guitar World and Guitar One. Future sells over one million videogame titles on the newsstand every month.

Future Action Sports has a long-range multi-tier launch plan kicking off in January 2005: first, Future will premiere the five-times-a-year Skateboard Trade News at the Action Sports Retailer trade show and the quarterly Snowboard Trade News will debut at the Snowsport Industry of America trade show in Las Vegas. Both of them will be free, controlled-circulation publications. Both magazines will be the only single sport focused trades in the board sports business.

Adam Sullivan, formerly the editor of TransWorld Skateboarding Business magazine, has been named as the editor of Future's Skateboard Trade News .

In August 2005, Future Action Sports will launch a new snowboard consumer magazine. More details will follow regarding the title, circulation, frequency and staff. Richards describes the title as "focused on reader needs rather than elite athlete needs. With an inclusive voice and photos that engage all snowboarders, we will bring world-class riding to the reader instead of holding it at arm's length. Everyone is invited to our party."

"Entering the snowboard and skateboard arena is a natural when you've got a lock on the opinion-leading youth and enthusiast market," explains Simpson-Bint. "With Fran Richards at the helm, the industries and readers can trust our vision, passion and authenticity. "

Future Network USA currently ranks 13th out of the top 20 audited newsstand publishers in gross retail sales. As stated in the April 2004 issue of Circulation Management, Future showed the biggest increase among the top 50 newsstand publishing companies for 2003, with a gross retail revenue sales increase of 77%. The average U.S. magazine cover price of the top 50 audited titles on the newsstand is $3.28 while the average Future cover price is $7.65. With an average cover price more than twice the industry average, Future consistently outperforms their competitors.

About The Future Network plc
The Future Network was founded in the UK in 1985. Today, it publishes over 90 special-interest consumer magazines worldwide, is the world's leading publisher of games magazines and is the fifth largest magazine publisher in the UK. Future employs over 1,000 people in offices in the UK, US, Italy and France. Around 100 international editions of Future's magazines are also published in 31 other countries across the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol FNET).

About Future Network USA
Future Network USA (www.futurenetworkusa.com), formerly Imagine Media, built its success on a strategy of "passion": serving markets where there is a thirst for expert knowledge and advice. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Future Network USA's publications sell in excess of 2.2 million copies per month. Its market-leading titles include PC Gamer ,PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation 2 Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine, Mobile PC, Maximum PC, MacAddict, EZ Tech Guides and guitar titles: Guitar World, Guitar World Acoustic (bi-monthly), Guitar World Bass Guitar (semi-annual, bimonthly in 2004), Guitar World Legends (quarterly) and Guitar One .

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