METRO LAUNCHED IN PHILADELPHIA TODAY An edition of Metro for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States, commenced publication today. It follows closely on the heels of the launch of Metro in Newcastle, England and Santiago, Chile, within the last ten days. The number of cities with local editions of Metro, a newspaper financed entirely by advertising revenue and distributed free-of-charge, continue to grow rapidly. In Philadelphia, the initial print run will be 150.000. The newspaper will cover the City of Philadelphia as well as Delaware, Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester Counties. Copies will be available for passengers with Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, SEPTA, the fifth largest public transportation system in the United States. The Philadelphia edition is the second outside Europe, after Santiago ten days ago. The Philadelphia, Newcastle and Santiago editions are under the Metro International business area of Modern Times Group MTG AB, which also publishes local editions in Prague, Budapest, and Holland. Additional contract has been won in Zurich. Metro is published in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, and Helsinki as well, by MTG's Publishing business area, as these cities are in MTG's core markets, the Nordic countries and Baltic states. For additional information, please contact Jan Sjöwall, president and CEO of Metro International, at +44-171-408 02 30. Modern Times Group MTG AB is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's O list (symbol: MTG) and on the Nasdaq National Market in New York (symbol: MTGNY). ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/01/24/20000124BIT00160/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/01/24/20000124BIT00160/bit0002.pdf