Uclick To Provide Comics For Knight Ridder Digital

Posted on February 7, 2002

Knight Ridder Digital, the online subsidiary of Knight Ridder and founder/operator of the Real Cities Network, and Uclick, a division of Andrews McMeel Universal, announced a strategic agreement whereby Uclick will manage branded comic and puzzle content for Knight Ridder Digital's Real Cities local media network of websites.

Under the agreement, Uclick will provide Knight Ridder Digital's Real Cities Network with a variety of comics and puzzles from Universal Press Syndicate, Tribune Media Services and United Media, including Garfield, Doonesbury, Dilbert, For Better or For Worse, Shoe, Jumble, Crossword Puzzles, PlayFour!, and others. Over the next several weeks, Uclick will begin delivering regionally branded comics and puzzles in the Entertainment channels to 27 Real Cities websites. The agreement also calls for Knight Ridder Digital and Uclick to cooperate in the exploration and development of new consumer-supported revenue sources, including future opportunities to generate growth through subscription-based content models.

"We believe that 2002 offers a new wave of opportunities for content presentation," says Ken Doctor, vice president/content services for Knight Ridder Digital. "Knight Ridder Digital is pleased to partner with Uclick as we continue to innovate new business models for delivering premium content to consumers."

As a first step, Knight Ridder Digital will begin offering Uclick's new puzzle subscription service, The Puzzle Society, to its on-line readers starting in February. The Puzzle Society is a co-branded consumer subscription product, offering interactive puzzles and game content. In addition to the current interactive business, the relationship between the two companies includes print syndication and, in the past, has extended to businesses as diverse as instant book publishing.

"Our companies have a long and successful history of cooperation and partnership on innovative projects, such as this one," adds Chris Pizey, Chief Operating Officer at Uclick. "This agreement further strengthens our relationship."

Kansas-City based Uclick is an Andrews McMeel Universal company, a company which also includes Universal Press Syndicate and Andrews McMeel Publishing. Uclick syndicates the work, such as comics and word games, of more than 100 content creators to hundreds of sites, including more than 200 newspaper websites. Uclick content is also found on portals such as AOL, Yahoo, MSNBC, and iWon. Uclick's brands include Garfield, Doonesbury, Cathy, FoxTrot, Ziggy, Boondocks, Pat Oliphant, News of the Weird, Universal Crossword and Dear Abby. Uclick is also building brands for the future, like Bizarro and Heart of the City. Uclick also develops and hosts websites of other creators such as Garfield.com, Doonesbury.com and Ziggy.com.