For immediate release                                23rd October 2003   

                             UNITED BUSINESS MEDIA                             

              US High Tech Publishing Statistics: September 2003               

Summary

Month of September 2003

The business information market serving the technology industry, measured in
terms of advertising page volumes, decreased by 15.7% the month of September
compared to September 2002. CMP Media's continuing technology publications
recorded a 12.4% decrease against September 2002.

CMP Media improved its market share compared to 2002 - its continuing titles
held a share of 29.2% in September 2003 up from 28.1% in September 2002.

Calendar Year to September

The market decreased by 15.5% compared to the year to September 2002. CMP's
continuing titles, in the year to September 2003, recorded a 10.6% decrease in
advertising page volumes against the year to September 2002.

Market share of CMP Media's continuing titles year to date was 29.3% up from
27.7% in the prior year period.

Rolling twelve months to September 2003

The market decreased by 17.3% in advertising page volumes in the twelve months
ended September 2003 compared to the twelve months ended September 2002. CMP
Media's continuing High Tech publications recorded a 11.4% decrease in the same
period.

MARKET SEGMENT - ADVERTISING PAGE VOLUMES

MONTH OF September 2003

                                                             2003        2002
                                                                             
                             2003       2002    Change     Market      Market
                                                                             
                                              03 vs 02      Share       Share
                                                                             
                            Pages      Pages         %          %           %
                                                                             
CMP Media                                                                    
                                                                             
Continuing                  1,967      2,245    -12.4%      29.2%       28.1%
                                                                             
Discontinued                    0         19                 0.0%        0.2%
                                                                             
CMP Media Total             1,967      2,264    -13.1%      29.2%       28.3%
                                                                             
Whole Market                                                                 
                                                                             
Continuing                  6,735      7,723    -12.8%     100.0%       96.6%
                                                                             
B2B Tech                    5,995      6,970    -14.0%      89.0%       87.2%
Publications                                                                 
                                                                             
General Business              740        753     -1.7%      11.0%        9.4%
                                                                             
Discontinued                    0        269                 0.0%        3.4%
                                                                             
Total Market                6,735      7,992    -15.7%     100.0%      100.0%

CALENDAR YEAR TO September 2003

                                                             2003        2002
                                                                             
                             2003       2002    Change     Market      Market
                                                                             
                                              03 vs 02      Share       Share
                                                                             
                            Pages      Pages         %          %           %
                                                                             
CMP Media                                                                    
                                                                             
Continuing                 15,186     16,988    -10.6%      29.3%       27.7%
                                                                             
Discontinued                   30        299                 0.1%        0.5%
                                                                             
CMP Media Total            15,216     17,287    -12.0%      29.4%       28.2%
                                                                             
Whole Market                                                                 
                                                                             
Continuing                 51,573     58,150    -11.3%      99.4%       94.7%
                                                                             
B2B Tech                   46,408     52,803    -12.1%      89.4%       86.0%
Publications                                                                 
                                                                             
General Business            5,165      5,347     -3.4%      10.0%        8.7%
                                                                             
Discontinued                  308      3,269                 0.6%        5.3%
                                                                             
Total Market               51,881     61,419    -15.5%     100.0%      100.0%

TWELVE MONTHS to Date

                                                             2003      2002
                                                                           
                               2003      2002    Change    Market    Market
                                                                           
                              Pages     Pages         %   Share %   Share %
                                                                           
CMP Media                                                                  
                                                                           
Continuing                   20,856    23,543    -11.4%     29.0%     27.0%
                                                                           
Discontinued                     77       775                0.1%      0.9%
                                                                           
CMP Media Total              20,933    24,318    -13.9%     29.1%     27.9%
                                                                           
Whole Market                                                               
                                                                           
Continuing                   71,162    81,385    -12.6%     98.8%     93.5%
                                                                           
B2B Tech Publications        63,854    72,933    -12.4%     88.7%     83.8%
                                                                           
General Business              7,308     8,452    -13.5%     10.1%      9.7%
                                                                           
Discontinued                    868     5,691                1.2%      6.5%
                                                                           
Total Market                 72,030    87,076    -17.3%    100.0%    100.0%

MAJOR CMP TITLES

                                      September 2003       YTD September 2003
                                                                             
                                 + Pages    % Change     + Pages     % Change
                                                                             
Information Week                   -17.0        -5.3      -218.1        -10.4
                                                                             
EE Times                          -108.3       -25.7      -571.5        -19.7
                                                                             
Dr Dobb's                           -2.3        -3.8       -70.8        -13.2
                                                                             
Network Computing                  -31.1       -16.5       +43.5         +4.0
                                                                             
ebn                                -29.3       -20.9      -407.2        -31.1
                                                                             
Network Magazine                   -19.2       -36.4      -188.9        -34.5
                                                                             
CRN                                -20.3        -7.7      +102.4         +5.5
                                                                             
VAR Business                       +49.9       +37.6      +125.9        +12.2
                                                                             

                                                          Source - IMS: Auditor

                                    -Ends-                                     

For further information, please contact:

Michael Waring         United Business Media          020 7921 5031          
                                                                             
Colin Browne           The Maitland Consultancy       020 7379 5151          
                                                                             
Nick Molden            United Business Media          020 7921 5097          

Notes to Editors:

CMP MEDIA LLC

CMP Media LLC (www.cmp.com) is a leading integrated media company providing
essential information and marketing services to the entire technology spectrum
-- the builders, sellers and users of technology worldwide. Capitalising on its
editorial strength, CMP is uniquely positioned to offer marketers
comprehensive, integrated media solutions tailored to meet their individual
needs. Its diverse products and services include newspapers, magazines,
Internet products, research, direct marketing services, education and training,
trade shows and conferences, and custom publishing.

BASIS OF COMPILATION OF STATISTICS

The statistics, which are the main subject of today's release, are
independently compiled by IMS/Auditor. The basis of compilation includes:

  * pages are hand counted and verified by the publishers
   
  * regional ads are counted if in over 50% of circulation
   
  * house ads are not counted
   
  * inserts are counted if bound in publication
   
  * the database will continually be updated as more accurate information
    arrives
   
All CMP High Tech publications are tracked. CMP determines the competitive set
of publishing titles which are measured on its behalf by IMS Auditor and
periodically adjusts the population to ensure that it is properly
representative of the changing US business technology advertising market in
which CMP competes.

Note: that these statistics represent only total technology advertising page
volumes as counted above, they therefore include unpaid page volumes and do not
show achieved revenue yields. Other material drivers of CMP Media's overall
revenue performance include the Healthcare business, online media and
exhibitions.

This press release includes statements which are not historical facts and are
considered "forward-looking" within the meaning of Section 27 of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended. These forward-looking statements reflect UBM's current
views about future events, business and growth strategy and financial
performance. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of
terms and phrases such as "believe," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "on
target" and similar expressions identifying forward-looking statements.
Investors should not rely on forward-looking statements because they are
subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from UBM's expectations. UBM expressly does
not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements. Management does
not attempt to update forecasts unless conditions materially change.



END