Primedia and BestStuff.com Launch Best

Posted on November 7, 2003

Primedia, Inc. and website BestStuff.com, have announced the launch of Best, a shopping magazine focused on the products and experiences that embrace an upscale lifestyle. Best, which hit newsstands on Thursday, November 6 at a $3.99 cover price, is billed as an "aspirational" magazine which offers features ranging from the selection and use of home theaters and high-end audio and video systems, to digital photography, computers and video imaging products, as well as automobile and travel suggestions.

The premiere issue of Best features Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise and CEO of HDNet, a provider of HDTV satellite programming, on the cover. Mick Fleetwood, drummer and founder of the rock supergroup Fleetwood Mac, serves as guest contributing editor for the launch issue, offering his picks for high-tech gadgets.

"Best magazine is that close friend, that trusted advisor who knows what's good in life and how to get it. For smart, successful, tech-aggressive consumers who want to 'have it all' -- without burying themselves in exhaustive lab reports -- Best is the essential guide to learning about and buying the best products the market has to offer," said Irwin Kornfeld, vice president and group publisher of Primedia's HT&P Group. "The magazine complements readers' purchasing research, both on the Web and in retail stores. Premiere issue cover subject Mark Cuban is a hero of the Best reader and Mick Fleetwood, music industry icon and one of the more tech-savvy celebrities, is an exemplar to those who want the 'best stuff in life.'"

Best's editorial and promotional partnership with BestStuff.com, a provider of consumer information, will provide the magazine its roster of contributing editors and will help to promote the magazine. John Kelley, BestStuff.com's editor, servers as Best's editor-in-chief, and John Lentz, founder of BestStuff.com, is the magazine's publishing director.

"Best appears at a time when the technology and consumer electronics market is rebounding, and at a time when next-generation products are flooding store shelves," said John Lentz. "The buyers for these top-quality products are the same people who favor premium cars, travel extensively and exclusively, and want all the best tools for living."

Best is published by the Home Technology & Photography (HT&P) Group of Primedia, Inc. Primedia's Home Technology & Photography Group is represented by a portfolio of eight entertainment technology magazines that reach more than three million tech enthusiasts. The portfolio includeds Home Theater, Stereophile, Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Audio Video Interiors, Shutterbug, Peterson's PHOTOgraphic, eDigitalPhoto, and its newest addition, Best.