The former Phillynews.com, after four award-winning years, has gathered an audience that now accounts for more than 17 million page views per month. It's rare for a Web site to change its name, but Philly.com is more than a name change - it's a change in philosophy.

While traditional newspaper companies on the Web are maintaining two sites - one for news and one as a portal or regional hub - Real Cities' Philly.com incorporates both functions into one comprehensive, user-friendly combination. Philly.com continues to feature news-based content that has made it one of the Top Ten News Sites in Hot 100 and Web Source magazine surveys. But, now, it also reaches out to a broader Internet audience with a regional search and directory service that leads users to information from a variety of area websites.

"It is this group of Web users, the ones who log on in order to search for specific information, that we are trying to better serve," said Fred Mann, general manager of Philadelphia Online. "We want Philly.com to be recognized as the place to go on the Web to find out anything and everything about our region."

A new design and navigation makes Philly.com both comprehensive and easy to use. Thorough and up-to-date news and feature information, often drawn directly from the work of more than 700 journalists at The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, are displayed in the middle of a new scroll-down page. A tab format at the top of each Web page provides constant and simple-to-use navigation to additional Philly.com content. Tabs include Homepage, News, Entertainment, Sports, Money, Community, Education, Health and City Guide. A highlighted Marketplace area appears at the top right of the page. From there, visitors can link to Philly.com's Jobs, Auto, Real Estate, Shopping, Auction and Classified sections. The tabs and Marketplace navigation stay on each section's front page as visitors travel through Philly.com.

Regional, global or site-specific searches can be launched from the search-and-directory feature on the left side of the new homepage. So key is the search-and-directory function that it stays with visitors on every section front throughout the new site.

Being the "region's website" also means forming relationships with other content and promotional partners. "The newspapers will always be the dominant force behind Philly.com, but having a variety of affiliate partners will help draw the audience we need to promote a successful regional hub," Mann said. New partners will be announced in the coming weeks.

"Changing your name after becoming the pre-eminent site in your local market is not a common thing to do," Mann added. "But our old 'phillynews.com' address labeled us as strictly a news site. We are much more than that. At Philly.com, we think we will show people how much more we really have to offer."

Kathy Yates, acting president of Knight Ridder New Media, said, "Philly.com reflects our direction in providing true portal websites. Real Cities' users will now have access to complete regional information at their fingertips."

"These changes will move Philly.com, one of the region's most heavily visited websites, into the future," said Robert Hall, publisher and chairman of Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., parent company of Philly.com. "We are committed to providing our users with the most helpful information and easiest access in the area."

About Real Cities Visit www.philly.com

Philly.com is part of Knight Ridder's Real Cities network. Real Cities, (www.realcities.com) one of the leading city networks on the Web today, consists of regional portals, city resource sites and a variety of online services in classifieds, entertainment, shopping, news, search and archives. Knight Ridder New Media, a leader in interactive information, is located in San Jose, Calif., and maintains more than 45 Web sites in its Real Cities network.

Knight Ridder (www.kri.com) is the nation's second largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, reaching 8.9 million readers daily and 13.2 million on Sunday. Knight Ridder has investments in two newsprint mills and is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. In September 1998, the company was named the most innovative user of technology in the United States by InformationWeek magazine in its annual InformationWeek 500 listings.

Press Contacts:

Fred Mann 215-854-4585 fredmann@phillynews.com

Joe Costello Philly.com 215-854-5046 CostelJl@phillynews.com

Cynthia Funnell KR Real Cities 408-938-6076 cfunnell@realcities.com