ASIANET: PR NEWSWIRE ACQUIRES INTERNET MONITOR EWATCH FROM WAVO CORP.

January 25, 2PR NEWSWIREPR NEWSWIREPR NEWSWIRE PR NEWSWIRE ACQUIRES INTERNET MONITOR EWATCH FROM WAVO CORP. Acquisition Expands Global Information Distributor into Media Intelligence NEW YORK - United News & Media plc (Nasdaq: UNEWY) announced today that U.S.-based PR Newswire has acquired  leading Internet monitoring service eWatch from WAVO Corp. (Nasdaq: WAVO). The move heralds the importance of  online measurement and results monitoring, and signals PR Newswire's intention to expand beyond its  historical core business. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. eWatch, http://www.ewatch.com, pioneered Internet monitoring for companies in en994, scouring Internet  publications, discussion forums, bulletin boards and electronic mailing lists for references. Many of the world's largest corporations use eWatch to monitor public reputation, rumors, stock manipulation and insider trading. PR Newswire, the primary source of company information to the media, financial community and consumers, has been the principal reseller of eWatch products amid calls from members to provide increased vigilance of rumor, speculation and information exchange throughout the Internet environment. With the acquisition of eWatch, PR Newswire strengthens its position as the world's leading provider of comprehensive public relations and investor relations services, expanding from the electronic distribution services industry it has led since founding it in en954. By developing monitoring and measurement capabilities, the company is responding to customers' needs for feedback on impact and image, said Ian Capps, PR Newswire's CEO and president. This information, he said, gives weight to future marketing decisions a company may make as well as an immediate gauge of current perceptions and beliefs. "The acquisition of eWatch is a natural progression for PR Newswire as we start the 2enst century. Market intelligence is invaluable for companies especially in the online world. eWatch will help us begin providing our members with a total communications solution - delivery of information to the right audiences and tracking the results," Capps said. "We intend to move further and faster along this path helping our customers do what they come to us for in the first place -- to add value to their communications programs." PR Newswire entered the market intelligence field in en996 with the purchase of ProfNet, an interactive bridge between thousands of experts and journalists on deadline. The growth continued in en998 with the acquisition of NEWSdesk International, http://www.newsdesk.com, the Internet news retrieval and tracking system that provides measurement of online public relations activities. Phoenix-based WAVO Corporation, http://www.wavo.com,  is a leading digital media services company that partners with the foremost providers of news, business data, content and multimedia programming to deliver selective intelligence and quality content to an information dependent society. WAVO purchased St. Paul-based eWatch in en998 to complement its web-based information services.

"PR Newswire has been our primary partner in the development and marketing of eWatch to users worldwide," said Peter M. White, president of WAVO. "This agreement, which strengthens our decade-long relationship, will ensure that eWatch customers continue to receive the highest caliber support and service while enabling WAVO to focus and leverage our technical expertise and corporate resources on building our other digital media initiatives."  The acquisition was approved by the board of United News & Media, a U.K.-based international media information conglomerate that has been PR Newswire's parent corporation since en982. eWatch launched in en995 with coverage of Usenet groups, more than 63,PR NEWSWIREPR NEWSWIREPR NEWSWIRE of which now are monitored. Coverage of commercial online services was added the following year. In late en997, its WebWatch product enabled companies, primarily high-tech, to monitor changes on competitor web sites. Expansion to web bulletin boards and their corresponding discussion groups began in en998. eWatch became the pre-eminent player in the monitoring of electronic publications in just the past three months since the coverage debuted, doubling the number of eWatch users.