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Fox TV's

New President

Friendly To Writers

HOLLYWOOD, JANUARY, 1997/PRNEWSWIRE/ -- Sandy Grushow has been named President, Twentieth Century Fox Television, it was announced by Peter Chernin, President and COO of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) and Chairman and CEO of The Fox Group.

In his new position, Grushow now oversees operations of News Corporation's television production arm, which produces comedy and dramatic programming for the broadcast networks. Current series include "Chicago Hope" (CBS), "The X-Files" (FOX), "Millennium" (FOX), "Relativity" (ABC), "The Simpsons" (FOX), "The Practice" (ABC), "King of the Hill," (FOX), "Temporarily Yours" (CBS), "Pauly" (FOX), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (WB), and "Secret Service Guy" (FOX)."

"Sandy's experience and unique vision will strengthen the studio's reputation as a diverse and creative writer-friendly company, and help the studio continue to forge relationships with the industry's best writers, producers and talent, " remarked Chernin.

Fox is currently in negotiations with Gary Newman, Executive Vice President, Twentieth Century Fox Television, who had led the studio since the departure of Peter Roth, for a long-term deal that will have him working with Peter Chernin taking on additional responsibilities in Fox's expanding television businesses.

Grushow most recently served as President of TELE-TV Media, the programming division of New York-based TELE-TV, a new media and technology company formed by Bell Atlantic, NYNEX, and Pacific Telesis Group.

McGraw-Hill Refines

Global Expansion Plans,

Chooses New Latin Director

NEW YORK, NY JANUARY, 1997--The McGraw-Hill Companies named Luis A. Viada as its first-ever managing director for Latin America in a restructuring of the Corporation's global division designed to provide rapid identification of opportunities and a streamlined process for moving into new markets in Latin America, Asia and Europe.

Viada will report to Jeff Williams, The McGraw-Hill Companies' executive vice president of global markets and strategic development. Future appointments also will be made of managing directors for Asia and Europe.

Viada, 47, will coordinate new business development efforts in Latin America, including South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Viada will pursue strategic business initiatives including acquisitions, alliances and partnerships in publishing and financial services, as well as helping to bolster existing operations in Latin America.

Viada previously was managing director and region head for Latin America for the Standard & Poor's Ratings Services operation of The McGraw-Hill Companies. Before joining Standard & Poor's in 1992, Viada spent 16 years in international corporate banking with Citibank, where he held senior positions in China, the Philippines, Turkey and Venezuela.

The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading information services provider. Founded in 1888, the Corporation provides information and analysis in multiple media. Sales in 1995 exceeded $2.9 billion.

The Free Press

Names New Publisher

NEW YORK, NY, JANUARY, 1997-- Paula Barker Duffy has been named publisher of The Free Press, a non-fiction imprint of The Simon & Schuster Trade Division, operating within the Simon & Schuster Consumer Group. Carolyn Reidy, president and publisher of The Trade Division, made the announcement.

Ms. Duffy joins The Free Press after serving as Director of the Harvard Business School Press, and more recently as Chief of Publications for the International Labor Organization, specialized United Nations agency.

Simon & Schuster is the world's largest English language book publisher and a global leader in consumer, business, professional and reference publishing. The Free Press, founded in 1947, is known for its books on business and management, behavioral, social, and political science.

Simon & Schuster is the publishing arm of Viacom Inc. Imprints include Simon & Schuster, Simon & Schuster Interactive, Scribner, Pocket Books, Prentice Hall, Silver Burdett Ginn, Allyn & Bacon, Computer Curriculum Corporation, Educational Management Group and Macmillan Publishing USA.

Golden Children's Books

Selects Two New Execs

NEW YORK, JANUARY, 1997--Golden Books Family Entertainment (NASDAQ: GBFE) has named two new executives to its the marketing team for Golden Books Children's Publishing Group. Kaylee Davis will serve as Vice President, Director of Marketing, and Jessica Frank, as Director of Promotion, Publicity and Advertising.

Ms. Davis joins Golden after having served as Director of Marketing at William Morrow. In her new post at Golden Children's Books, she will report to Patty Sullivan, Executive Vice President, Publisher.

Ms. Frank formerly served as Director of Publicity at Bantam Doubleday Dell books for Young, where she worked for five years. Ms. Frank will report to the new Director of Marketing, Kaylee Davis.

Golden Books Family Entertainment, Inc. is the leading children's book publishing company in North America and owns one of the largest libraries of family entertainment copyrights.

ABA Director

Rath Resigns

JANUARY, 1997--Bernie Rath, executive director of The American Booksellers Association for 13 years, has resigned his post to pursue other opportunities in book publishing. His resignation becomes effective at the end of February. A successor has not yet been named.

Respected by the independent booksellers, Rath headed a legal battle against several major publishing houses, alleging antitrust violations favorable to chain stores. Publishers ultimately settled and paid about $2 million in ABA legal costs.

Rath also guided the $17.5 million sale of the ABA convention in September to Reed Expositions Association, after a number of large US publishers decline to attend in 1997.

Amazon.com

Releases '96

Bestseller List

SEATTLE-- JANUARY,1997--Amazon.com, the leading on-line bookseller, has announced its 100 best-selling books for 1996, showing continued strength in the sale of mainstream and special interest titles.

The top ten bestsellers include:

1. Creating Killer Web Sites: The Art of Third-Generation Site Design-- David Siegel
2. Executive Orders-- Tom Clancy
3. The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle's Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions-- Scott Adams
4. Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk-- Peter L. Bernstein
5. The English Patient-- Michael Ondaatje
6. Idoru-- William Gibson
7. Airframe-- Michael Crichton
8. Creating Great Web Graphics-- Laurie McCanna
9. Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet-- Matthew Lyon-- Katie Hafner
10. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information-- Edward R. Tufte

The entire list of Amazon.com's 100 bestsellers of 1996 can be viewed at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/bestsellers/1996

"Our 1996 Top 100 reflects our growing customer base and the variety of their interests; it's exciting to see customers taking advantage of our broad selection," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1995, Amazon.com Inc. is headquartered in Seattle and is privately held. Amazon.com Books is the leading bookstore on the Web, with the world's largest selection of books. The Internet-only bookstore offers a catalog of 1.1 million titles.

Viacom Finalizes

50% Investment

in United Paramount

NEW YORK, NY, JANUARY, 1997 -- Viacom Inc. (Amex: VIA, VIAB), which also owns the major publishing houses, Simon & Schuster and Prentice Hall, has assumed half interest in United Paramount Network (UPN). The company exercised its option to purchase part of the operation from BHC Communications, Inc. (BHC), a subsidiary of Chris-Craft Industries Inc. Viacom now will jointly own and operate UPN with BHC, effective January 15, 1997.

Viacom has invested approximately $160 million in UPN. The national broadcast network was created in 1995 by BHC and the Paramount Television Group, as part of the Viacom Entertainment Group.

The latest transaction enhances Viacom's capacity to deliver original programming and expands its reach to US television households.

UPN currently has 152 affiliates covering approximately 92% of all US television households. The Paramount Stations Group, part of the Viacom Entertainment Group, owns and operates 11 TV stations, nine of which are UPN affiliates. BHC operates eight television stations, three wholly owned and five through its 58% owned subsidiary, United Television, Inc. BHC signals reach approximately 20% of the country's population; six of the stations are UPN affiliates.

Viacom Inc. is one of the world's largest entertainment and publishing companies.

New Media Publishers

Form Coalition

NEW YORK, JANUARY, 1997-- About 40 large electronic publishers have formed a new trade association representing for- profit Internet content providers.

Named The Internet Content Coalition, the initial group includes representatives of The New York Times, MSNBC, Time Inc., Reuters, Electronic Media Company, and USA Today.

The new organization was partly prompted by passage of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that would criminalize broadcasting over the Internet of "indecent" material to people under age 18. Constitutionality of the Decency Act , which has yet to go into effect, will be decided by the United States Supreme Court next year.

The group's goal is to "help create a responsible and business-friendly environment through advocacy, education, standardization and policy."

Amazon.com Fans

Criticize Slate Webzine

After Cutting Report

JANUARY, 1997--Hundreds of Amazon.com fans rushed to defend the largest on-line book store in early January after Slate, the webzine sponsored by Microsoft (www.slate.com) posted an article sarcastically titled, " Amazon.Con" by Jonathan Chait and Stephen Glass, staff writers at the New Republic. Michael Kinsley edits the on-line publication.

The article slammed the successful Amazon.com for its claim of 1.1 million books "in stock" and compare ordering titles from Amazon, against ordering from Poetry and Prose, and Borders.

Reader comments, mostly in favor of Amazon.com, apparently poured into Slate's "The Fray" (reader comment area), by the hundreds.

Amazon.com bills its web site as "the earth's largest book store." According to Amazon.com marketing vice president, Jennifer Cast, "Slate took exception to the fact that we don't have 1.1 million books in physical stock, " she said. "The point is, 1.1 million books can be accessed, ordered and, and most of them received in less than a week."

She said that the largest book store in the country, Barnes & Noble in New York, stocks only 175,000 books. "It would be impossible to get the kind of selection Amazon.com offers in any physical store, she said.

The privately-held company, launched in July, 1995, has grown by 30% per month between then and December, 1996, according to the spokeswoman.