MarketWatch.com and Pearson PLC’s Learning Network Team Up to Offer Online Personal Finance Courses
CHICAGO, Illinois — MarketWatch.com, Inc. (MKTW) , the Internet’s leading source of financial news and information, announced today that it will create and offer interactive, online personal finance courses in partnership with Learning Network, the Internet’s premier consumer-education source. The courses will be offered to paying subscribers through the company’s web site, CBS MarketWatch.com, as well as through learningnetwork.com. Executives of MarketWatch.com made the announcement at Comdex Chicago 2001.
“The MarketWatch.com and Learning Network courses will provide online students with a foundation of knowledge that will enable them to better understand and utilize the news and tools they find each day on CBS MarketWatch.com,” said MarketWatch.com Chairman & CEO Larry Kramer. “MarketWatch.com’s personal finance experts and Learning Network’s expertise in providing learning programs make a formidable combination. This will truly be an ‘A plus’ offering.”
“Our partnership with Learning Network brings us into the growing online education market,” said Bill Bishop, MarketWatch.com Executive Vice President of Business Development. “We believe that these courses will not only further build our audience, it will also provide MarketWatch.com with an important new revenue stream, one with exciting potential for growth.”
The MarketWatch.com and Learning Network courses will serve as the cornerstone for individual learners who wish to enhance their financial security by learning about investment basics, mortgages, online brokers, or retirement planning. The courses will also feature contributions from noted MarketWatch.com personal finance experts.
“Since its inception, Learning Network’s mission has been to create a network of the world’s best learning and information resources, personalized to help consumers of all ages take control of their learning and make it part of their everyday lives,” said Phil Hoffman, chief executive officer, Learning Network. “By integrating MarketWatch.com resources with our own personal finance offerings, we’re creating an online learning environment that keeps users abreast of today’s ever-changing financial landscape.”
About Learning Network
Learning Network, the Internet’s premier consumer-education source, offers an unmatched array of online educational tools, content, resources, and communities currently serving the K-12, Professional Development, Lifelong Learning, and Reference markets. Offerings for the College market will roll out later in 2001. Each of the five vertically integrated networks is supported by the Learning Network Store, which hosts both online and offline education products related to Learning Network services. Learning Network is built on a strong foundation of assets from international media company Pearson plc, as well as educational properties from leading technology companies. Learning Network has business offices in San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Chicago, and Paramus, NJ. For more information call 888-816-1999, or visit www.learningnetwork.com on the Internet and America Online Keyword: Learning Network.
About MarketWatch.com, Inc.
MarketWatch.com, Inc., a leading financial media company, is the number one financial news and information source on the Internet. Founded in 1997, MarketWatch.com operates three web sites: cbs.marketwatch.com, bigcharts.com, and U.K.-based ftmarketwatch.com. In addition to offering top-notch financial reporting and investment tools on its web sites, MarketWatch.com licenses a wide array of content and tools in custom-designed formats for major brokerages and Internet sites. The Company also produces the syndicated CBS MarketWatch Weekend program, airs financial reports over CBS Network Television, and provides hourly updates on the MarketWatch.com Radio Network. Editorial content from cbs.marketwatch.com is now published in newspapers in two top U.S. markets and over major wireless networks.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This media release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. MarketWatch.com’s actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, which include statements as to the Company’s expectation of online education courses increasing the Company’s audience and providing a new revenue stream with potential for growth. Factors that might contribute to such differences include, among others, whether the Company will successfully launch its online learning network; if launched, whether the education network will be accepted by the Company’s audience and help build its audience; and the Company’s ability to derive revenues from this education business. More information about these and other potential factors, which could affect the Company’s business and financial results, is indicated in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000, as well as the other reports it files with the Securities Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof. MarketWatch.com, Inc. assumes no obligation to publicize the results of any potential revision of these forward-looking statements.
