ABC Daytime and ABC.com Team Up With WeddingChannel.com for an Unprecedented Multimedia Wedding Event

Business Wire, May 1, 2000

Entertainment Editors

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 1, 2000

ABC.com to Create abc.com/wave, a Homepage for "All My Children's"

Lifestyle Show on Fictional ABC Affiliate WRCW

ABC Daytime and ABC.com, the official Web site of the ABC Television Network and part of GO.com, have teamed up with WeddingChannel.com, the most comprehensive wedding planning resource on the Internet. The alliance will join the Web sites with the popular daytime drama, "All My Children," for an unprecedented multimedia wedding event.

"All My Children's" Hayley Vaughan (Kelly Ripa) and Mateo Santos (Mark Consuelos) are planning a very special June wedding. Pine Valley's fictional ABC affiliate, WRCW, has launched "The Wave," a lifestyle show hosted by Hayley, the busy bride-to-be. On May 5, as she plans her big day, Hayley will seek the help of her loyal "Wave" audience with the important decision of choosing her wedding dress.

Simultaneously, ABC.com will unveil a newly created web page (abc.com/wave) which will link to WeddingChannel.com, allowing fans of the show with Internet access to view exclusive photographs of Hayley modeling four gorgeous wedding gowns created by designer Vera Wang. Between May 5-19, fans can cast their vote for their favorite gown. The gown that receives the most online votes will be the one that Hayley will wear to her June wedding to Mateo. Not only will viewers help choose Hayley's gown, they will also have a chance to win the actual Vera Wang wedding dress worn on "All My Children" by actress Kelly Ripa.

Angela Shapiro, president, ABC Daytime said, "This is an exciting opportunity for our viewers to extend their on-air experience with two extremely popular characters to the Internet for an enhanced viewing destination."

"Soap fans are among the most avid visitors to ABC.com and we are pleased to offer them this online chance to truly influence what they see on 'All My Children,'" said Brian Bowman, vice president and general manager, ABC.com.

"It is exciting to have the destiny of a television show be determined by its Internet-savvy viewing audience," said Jenny Lefcourt, vice president of marketing and business development of WeddingChannel.com. "The majority of WeddingChannel.com users are women who visit our site on a daily basis, and is similar to those who watch daytime drama; so, it is appropriate that they will determine the outcome."

ABC Daytime has been the ratings leader for over 23 years in the key demographic of Women 18-49. "All My Children" debuted on the Network on January 5, 1970. The drama was created by Agnes Nixon, who currently serves as head writer. "All My Children" is nominated this year for an Outstanding Daytime Drama Emmy Award.

ABC.com, the leading broadcast network Web site, is part of GO.com, the Internet business of The Walt Disney Company. GO.com manages some of the Internet's most popular Web sites, including the GO.com portal, ABC.com, ABCNEWS.com, ABCSports.com, Disney.com, Disneystore.com, DisneyTravel.com, Family.com, ESPEN.com, ESPNstore.com, EXPN.com, Mr. Showbiz, NASCAR Online, NBA.com and NFL.com. Steven M. Bornstein is the chairman of GO.com, which is headquartered in North Hollywood, California, with operations in Sunnyvale, California; Seattle, New York and London.

WeddingChannel.com (www.weddingchannel.com) is the world's definitive marketplace for weddings, connecting engaged couples and their guests with planning resources, wedding services, and the gift registries of premier retailers. The company has exclusive, strategic relationships with the leaders in bridal registry, including Federated Department Stores, Inc. (the parent company of Bloomingdale's, The Bon Marche, Burdines, Goldsmith's, Lazarus, Macy's, Rich's and Stern's), Tiffany & Co., Crate and Barrel, Neiman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma, Dillard's, Restoration Hardware, REI, Gump's and many more. It also has marketing partnerships with BRIDE'S magazine, AOL and Yahoo. WeddingChannel.com is a private company whose investors include Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, Federated Department Stores, Inc, Amazon.com, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc, Goldman Sachs, Trinity Ventures, The Neiman Marcus Group, MSD Capital, RRE Investors, idealab!, idealab! Capital Partners, Crate and Barrel, and Williams-Sonoma.