America Online Members Name Pamela Anderson's ``V.I.P'' the Best Guilty Pleasure in the Second Annual AOL TV Viewer Awards.

Business & Entertainment Editors

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 2002

More than Half a Million TV Fans Nationwide Cast their

Votes for Their Favorite TV Shows, Performers

and Moments in AOL Television's Annual Awards

America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive service, today announced the winners of the second annual AOL TV Viewer Awards, a nationwide poll of avid television viewers. In addition to naming Pamela Anderson's "V.I.P." as Best Guilty Pleasure and Tom Welling of "Smallville" as Best New Face, AOL members also praised "Friends" Rachel & Joey as the Best Couple, and felt Sharon Osbourne provided the year's Best Reality Moment with her prowess for pitching pork.

The AOL TV Viewer Awards are unlike other television industry awards because the winners are selected by avid TV fans who watch the shows every week. The Awards provide a platform for real people -- for whom these shows are created -- to let their voice be heard.

 And the winners are...

 -- For BEST NEW FACE:
 Tom Welling, "Smallville" on The WB

 -- For BEST REALITY MOMENT:
 Sharon Osbourne throws a ham in their noisy neighbors' yard on
 "The Osbournes" on MTV

 -- For BEST TV CONCERT:
 Madonna, "The Drowned World Tour" on HBO

 -- For BEST COUPLE:
 Rachel & Joey (Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc), "Friends" on
 NBC

 -- For BEST/FUNNIEST SIDEKICK:
 Jack (Sean Hayes), "Will & Grace" on NBC

 -- For BEST GUILTY PLEASURE:
 "V.I.P." starring Pamela Anderson

 -- For BEST CLIFFHANGER:
 "Friends" Season Finale

"Thank you to everyone who voted. We are both honored, and surprised! We didn't even realize we qualified for the Best TV Couple category, but it was a lot of fun for us to play out the new twist to the friendship between Joey and Rachel. And, we are just as curious as all of you to see where this goes in the upcoming season. Stay tuned!" said Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc, stars of NBC's "Friends" and winners of the Best Couple Award.

"I would like to thank all the AOL members who signed on and clicked a vote for me. It really means a lot and I'll do my best to keep you guys laughing," said Sean Hayes, co-star on NBC's "Will and Grace" and winner of the Best Sidekick award.

"The fact that so many people tune in to watch 'Smallville' is awesome, and I'm incredibly flattered that the fans think highly enough of my work on the show to give me this cool award," said Tom Welling, star of The WB's "Smallville" and winner of the Best New Face award.

"The AOL TV Viewer Awards is a unique program that gives television fans across the country the chance to have their say in recognizing their favorite shows and performers of the year," said Kevin Conroy, SVP and General Manager, AOL Entertainment. "While some of our results - like AOL members choosing Sean Hayes of `Will & Grace' - mirror the front runners for this year's Emmy Awards, TV fans on AOL also share opinions that differ from those of the industry. For example, AOL members loved breakout performers like Tom Welling of `Smallville' and guilty pleasures like Pamela Anderson's `V.I.P.' We are proud to provide AOL members this forum to recognize these fine shows and performers."

From July 25 through September 15, AOL collected more than 500,000 votes from TV fans across the country who shared their opinions about the best that television had to offer throughout the past year.

About America Online, Inc.

America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.