For immediate release                                         23rd January 2004

                             UNITED BUSINESS MEDIA                             

               US High Tech Publishing Statistics: December 2003               

Summary

Month of December 2003

The business information market serving the technology industry, measured in
terms of advertising page volumes, decreased by 15.4% the month of December
compared to December 2002. CMP Media's continuing technology publications
recorded a 16.5% decrease against December 2002.

CMP Media's market share decreased compared to 2002 - its continuing titles
held a share of 26.4% in December 2003 down from 26.7% in December 2002.

Calendar Year to December

The market decreased by 13.7% compared to the year to December 2002. CMP's
continuing titles, in the year to December 2003, recorded a 8.8% decrease in
advertising page volumes against the year to December 2002.

Market share of CMP Media's continuing titles year to date was 28.9% up from
27.4% in the prior year period.

MARKET SEGMENT - ADVERTISING PAGE VOLUMES

MONTH OF December 2003

                                                             2003        2002
                                                                             
                                                Change     Market      Market
                                                                             
                             2003       2002  03 vs 02      Share       Share
                                                                             
                            Pages      Pages         %          %           %
                                                                             
CMP Media                                                                    
                                                                             
Continuing                  1,360      1,629    -16.5%      26.4%       26.7%
                                                                             
Discontinued                    0         14                 0.0%        0.2%
                                                                             
CMP Media Total             1,360      1,643    -17.2%      26.4%       26.9%
                                                                             
Whole Market                                                                 
                                                                             
Continuing                  5,157      5,940    -13.2%     100.0%       97.4%
                                                                             
B2B Tech                                                                     
Publications                4,456      5,249    -15.1%      86.4%       86.1%
                                                                             
                                                                             
General Business              701        691      1.4%      13.6%       11.3%
                                                                             
                                                                             
Discontinued                    0        156                 0.0%        2.6%
                                                                             
Total Market                5,157      6,096    -15.4%     100.0%      100.0%

CALENDAR YEAR TO December 2003

                                                             2003        2002
                                                                             
                                                Change     Market      Market
                                                                             
                             2003       2002  03 vs 02      Share       Share
                                                                             
                            Pages      Pages         %          %           %
                                                                             
CMP Media                                                                    
                                                                             
Continuing                 20,348     22,307     -8.8%      28.9%       27.4%
                                                                             
Discontinued                   30        348                 0.1%        0.4%
                                                                             
CMP Media Total            20,378     22,655    -10.1%      29.0%       27.8%
                                                                             
Whole Market                                                                 
                                                                             
Continuing                 70,005     77,638     -9.8%      99.5%       95.2%
                                                                             
B2B Tech                   62,679     70,149    -10.6%      89.1%       86.0%
Publications                                                                 
                                                                             
                                                                             
General Business            7,326      7,489     -2.2%      10.4%        9.2%
                                                                             
                                                                             
Discontinued                  351      3,908                 0.5%        4.8%
                                                                             
Total Market               70,356     81,546    -13.7%     100.0%      100.0%

MAJOR CMP TITLES

                                  December 2003         YTD December 2003   
                                                                            
                               +/- Pages  % Change     +/- Pages  % Change  
                                                                            
Information Week                -6.9        -3.6       -137.6       -5.0    
                                                                            
EE Times                        -17.8       -7.2       -621.6       -16.4   
                                                                            
Dr Dobb's                       -14.0       -27.0      -107.7       -15.7   
                                                                            
Network Computing               -54.3       -36.2      +169.4       +11.4   
                                                                            
ebn                             -18.7       -20.2      -530.9       -31.7   
                                                                            
Network Magazine                -15.8       -33.2      -149.1       -21.2   
                                                                            
CRN                             +15.4       +7.9       +105.0       +4.0    
                                                                            
VAR Business                    -17.1       -14.2       +88.3       +6.1    
                                                                            

                                                          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
   
  * supplement 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 advertising page volumes as
counted above, they do not represent paid advertising page volumes nor do they
show the revenue yields which the operators in these market segments have
achieved.

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