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DES MOINES, Iowa and NEW YORK, April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) today unveiled a new Web 2.0 enhanced version of its highly popular Better Homes and Gardens Web site (BHG.com). The redesigned portal features a host of new, highly interactive experiences including the media company's first ever broadband network -- Better.tv.

According to Dan Hickey, Editor in Chief, BHG.com, the redesign will provide the Web site's existing 5 million unique monthly users -- primarily women who are passionate about their homes, meals, family and gardens -- with the largest, most comprehensive and in-depth interactive experience in the field.

The new BHG.com contains seven primary channels -- Decorating, Remodeling, Food & Recipes, Gardening, Holidays, Health, and Family & Crafts. The channels include features such as streaming video and blogs; design and planning tools; desktop widgets; recipe wikis; and community sharing applications.

"We wanted to create a portal experience that enables them to tap into our vast resources, expertise, and content," says Hickey. "We also wanted to create a place where these women can share their own ideas with other home enthusiasts, while simultaneously having the opportunity to customize that experience for themselves."

The redesigned BHG.com also features Better.tv, Meredith's new broadband network that offers viewers original video programming based on the editorial content and expertise from the media and marketing company's extensive portfolio of magazines, books, websites, live events, and television stations. The broadband network features more than 20 channels of video information covering a comprehensive range of topics -- food, family, home, style, remodeling, entertainment, relationships, fitness and health among others. Consumers have the ability to enhance their viewing experience with a specially designed on-screen player.

On the Food & Recipes channel, women can get great recipe advice as well as use a recipe wiki that enables them to share their own special recipes, cooking tips and techniques with millions of other women. The channel also lets them create custom recipe collections which can be shared with others and accessed anytime.

BHG.com debuts with more than 25 bloggers across all channels, using editors from all facets of the Better Homes and Gardens brand including the magazine, books, and Special Interest Media. The daily blogs are filled with entertaining advice and useful ideas. Some favorites are Compulsive Baker, Cheapskate Decorator, and Married to a Remodeler.

A significant addition to the Web site includes a robust home products database which is the central application to the BHG.com Remodeling channel. Visitors to the site are able to browse and compare features and brands from an assortment of more than 50,000 home products. Another unique feature on the channel is the Color This! suite which provides all-in-one-place convenience for the user to create personalized solutions when it comes to choosing color for any aspect of the home -- inside or out.

The free downloadable desktop widget provides easy access to BHG.com right from the desktop, providing easy access to the topics users care about while keeping within the brand experience.

"We are thrilled to create an expanded opportunity for our clients to digitally connect with women in the new highly dynamic and fully engaged BHG.com," said Lauren Wiener, Vice President of Meredith Interactive Media. "The broad array of applications -- from video to personalization to social networking -- reflects our desire to super serve both the passionate women who are part of BHG.com as well as our marketing partners who understand the incredible value and influence of the home enthusiast audience."

About Meredith Corporation

Meredith (http://www.meredith.com/) is one of the nation's leading media and marketing companies with businesses centering on magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing and interactive media. The Meredith Publishing Group features 25 subscription magazines -- including Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Parents, Fitness, American Baby, and ReadyMade -- and approximately 200 special interest publications. Meredith owns 14 television stations, including properties in top-25 markets such as Atlanta, Phoenix and Portland.

Meredith has approximately 350 books in print and has established marketing relationships with some of America's leading companies including The Home Depot, DIRECTV, DaimlerChrysler, Wal-Mart and Carnival Cruise Lines. Meredith's consumer database, which contains more than 85 million names, is one of the largest domestic databases among media companies and enables magazine and television advertisers to target marketing campaigns precisely. Additionally, Meredith has an extensive Internet presence that includes 32 Web sites and strategic alliances with leading Internet destinations. Meredith Hispanic Ventures publishes five Spanish-language titles, making Meredith the largest Hispanic publisher in the United States reaching women at every life stage. The Family Circle Cup, America's premier women's professional tennis tournament -- owned and operated by Meredith, is held every April in Charleston, South Carolina and has for over three decades continued to showcase the best in women's tennis.

SOURCE: Meredith Corporation

CONTACT: Patrick Taylor, +1-212-551-6984, Patrick.taylor@meredith.com,
or Katharine Reitz, +1-212-551-7033, Katharine.reitz@meredith.com, both of
Meredith Corporation

Web site: http://www.meredith.com/