Audio Book Club, Inc. Announces Online Marketing Agreement On MSN; Company to Advertise Audio Book Club on Prime Online News Network and Leading Email Service Provider

Business Wire, Feb 3, 1999

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 1999--Audio Book Club, Inc. (AMEX: KLB), today announced it has signed an advertising agreement with Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) to advertise Audio Book Club on MSNBC on the Internet (www.msnbc.com) and MSN Hotmail (www.hotmail.com). Both sites will feature direct links, via banner ads, to the Company's www.audiobookclub.com and www.BooksAloud.com websites.

MSNBC on the Internet was rated the No. 1 general news site at home for all of 1998. The site delivers news and information that is most relevant and timely, including the best of NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC along with original, up-to-the minute, extensive coverage in an engaging and useful style. Built on the worldwide resources of NBC News and the technology of Microsoft, MSNBC is a 24-hour cable news network and an Internet news service.

The award-winning MSN Hotmail has become the world's fastest-growing free Web-based electronic-mail service (connect-time charges may apply). With more than 30 million members and more than 150,000 new accounts established each day, Hotmail is now the world's largest e-mail service. This feature-rich service gives members a reliable e-mail account they can access from any PC with Internet access.

Norton Herrick, Chairman and CEO of Audio Book Club, stated, "Working with Microsoft through its popular MSNBC.com and Hotmail.com sites is another milestone for Audio Book Club and its growth via our Internet strategy. MSNBC caters to influential consumers and business professionals who are an important part of our target market, while Hotmail reaches an audience of over 30 million individuals with access to the Internet. Given the extensive reach of both sites, we believe that this agreement should easily translate into considerable membership growth at our Audio Book Club sites."

Herrick continued, "We are currently working with such leading Internet companies as AOL, Broadcast.com, Netscape, Yahoo and Infospace, to name just a few, and believe this already impressive list would not be complete without Microsoft. We feel that our aggressive Internet advertising strategy, combined with our recent acquisition of the Columbia House Audiobook Club, fortifies our position as a leader in the sales and marketing of audio books, and should result in continued revenue and member growth."

Audio Book Club, Inc. is a marketer of audiobooks through membership clubs which market and sell audiobooks via the Internet at www.audiobookclub.com and www.BooksAloud.com, and by mail order. Audio Book Club, Inc. is also a publisher of audio and video content including classic radio and video programs and markets and sells that content on audio cassettes, CDs and video cassettes via numerous distribution channels including the Internet, catalogues, radio shows, retail and other outlets. Since commencing operations in January 1994, Audio Book Club, Inc. has engaged in an aggressive membership recruitment program to establish a core Audio Book Club member base. With its recent acquisitions, including the Columbia House Audiobook Club, Audio Book Club, Inc. currently has a combined membership and audio buyer database of over 1,300,000 names.

This release is covered under the "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain information included in this release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements that involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, the Company's ability to successfully implement a strategy of continued growth and other risks detailed in the Company's registration Statement on Form SB-2 and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The Company's actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from any future results performance or achievements expressed or implied in any forward looking statement.