Real Cities.com is a national network of comprehensive regional hubs on the World Wide Web specializing in local information and services in 31 U.S. cities. Real Cities hubs are created to provide users with the most satisfying, rich and in-depth local online experience. We believe Real Cities sites provide the most extensive local information, sophisticated functionality and quality content available on the Web today.

Real Cities is staffed and operated by some of the nation's leading media companies including Knight Ridder Digital, Central Newspapers and Belo Corporation. Among its member Web sites are: BayArea.com, DFW.com, Indy.com, KansasCity.com, Kentucky.com, Miami.com, Ohio.com, PhoenixAZ.com, Charlotte.com and TwinCities.com.

Unlike national networks or standalone Web sites, Real Cities regional hubs specialize in extensive local information. Our intention is to save users time and effort by providing a variety of choices and a vast array of information in one single location so users don't have to hop around the Web. Each hub is completely customized with local information by experienced publishing and Internet-savvy staff who live and work in each city. At the heart of the hub is an extensive local directory. Users have the option of searching just the local directory or the entire Web.

Each city guide contains an in-depth directory of information and services. The following categories are searchable: Autos & Driving, Business & Money, Community Listings, Computer & Internet, Jobs & Careers, News & Media, Real Estate & Home, Recreation & Outdoors, Education, Family & Kids, Food & Dining, Government & Reference, Health & Medicine, Hobbies & Pets, Science & Technology, Shopping & Classifieds, Sports, Travel & Visitors, Entertainment & Movies, Weather & Traffic.

Interesting user features include community publishing tools to bring institutions and groups together by interest or topic, and allows users to create their own Web sites and publish information on their own. Free email, current weather reports, instant maps and directions, yellow page listings and links to local newspapers are user favorites we've included. Our unique marketplace provides a place for users to shop online. A wide-variety of national and local merchants are available. Special interest sites such as Auto.com, ThatsRacin.com, and SiliconValley.com are available network-wide.

RealCities.com is a national network of regional hubs, located in 31 U.S. cities. RealCities.com produces a variety of online services covering news, classified ads, entertainment, shopping, search, community publishing and archives. You can view the sites included in the Real Cities network at RealCities.com.

Real Cities Regional Portals

Mission

The mission of Real Cities is to provide users with the most comprehensive local information, online services and diverse functionality available on the Web in one single location.

Network Information

The Real Cities network was originally introduced in October of 1997 by Knight Ridder New Media, now Knight Ridder Digital. The network consisted of newspaper Web sites, city-resource sites and a variety of specialty interest sites. Knight Ridder began electronic publishing in 1993, when the San Jose Mercury News' Mercury Center was introduced on America Online.

Today, Real Cities has grown to include non-Knight Ridder companies such as the Belo Corporation and Central Newspapers. Real Cities encourages new publishing and broadcast partners to join the network to provide users with the widest variety of cities to choose from. Real Cities is one of the fastest-growing networks on the Web today and has grown well-beyond newspaper Web sites.

To Users

We hope that your Web experience with us is rich and gratifying. We want you to become more informed, involved with your community and find lots of fun things to do! New features and useful tools will be offered regularly as we further evolve. We hope that we'll become your home on the Web and that you'll visit us often.

To Advertisers

Real Cities is an opportunity for advertisers to target local audiences across a national platform. A broad range of targeting options from content and category specific offerings to geographic opportunities is available in the form of banners, buttons, text, links, sponsorships and non-banner promotions. Read more advertising information.

To Potential Partners, Affiliates, Vendors and Merchants

Real Cities welcomes new members to be a part of the most comprehensive local network available on the Web. Contact us today. For local media companies interested in finding out more about participation in the Real Cities network, contact Lem Lloyd, Director of Business Development/Affliliates: (408) 938-6049.

About Knight Ridder Digital

Knight Ridder Digital, a leader in interactive information, maintains the Real Cities* network of regional hubs (www.realcities.com). Real Cities' Web sites are in 31 U.S. markets and specialize in comprehensive local information and services.

Knight Ridder (www.kri.com) is the nation's second-largest information publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, with a readership of 9.2 million daily and 13.1 million Sunday. Both Knight Ridder corporate offices and Knight Ridder Digital are located in San Jose, California, the heart of Silicon Valley.

*Real Cities is a trademark of Knight Ridder Digital.

Real Cities Partners

Belo Corporation - Belo (www.belo.com) is one of the nation's largest media companies with a diversified group of television broadcasting, newspaper publishing, cable news and electronic media assets. The company's television group currently reaches 13.6 percent of U.S. television households, including three stations in the top 12 television markets: WFAA-TV (ABC) in Dallas-Fort Worth; KHOU-TV (CBS) in Houston; and KING-TV (NBC) in Seattle-Tacoma. Belo has six stations in the top 30 markets, 11 stations in the top 50 markets, and network-affiliation as follows: four ABC affiliates, six CBS affiliates, five NBC affiliates and two FOX affiliates. In addition, the company manages four television stations through local marketing agreements and owns four local or regional cable news channels.

Belo's Publishing Division includes The Dallas Morning News (dallasnews.com), which has the country's eighth largest Sunday circulation and ninth largest daily circulation, and The Providence Journal (projo.com), the leading newspaper in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Belo also owns: The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California; the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro, Kentucky; The Eagle in Bryan-College Station, Texas; the Arlington Morning News in Arlington, Texas; and The Gleaner in Henderson, Kentucky.

Central Newspapers - Central Newspapers (www.centralnewspapers.com) is a media and information company involved primarily in newspaper publishing and related businesses. Its largest operations include The Arizona Republic, the nation's fastest growing daily metropolitan newspaper, The Indianapolis Star, and Westech, its high-tech career fairs business. Central Newspapers' stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ECP.

Macromedia Internet Ventures:
NorthJersey.com - Bergen.com, the company's flagship and home of the Record Online, is nearly five year old. In the last two years it has been joined by NJCommunity.com, which is a community-building infrastructure for more than 1,800 governments, schools, towns, businesses, houses of worship and associations throughout the region. Among Macromedia's other online properties are: northjerseycars; northjerseyhomes; northjerseyjobs; northjerseyclassifieds; njhn.com; montclairtimes.com; parent paper.com; njcops.com; and njlifetime.com.

For more information on Real Cities read our press releases.