SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. April 19, 2000 - CNET Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNET), the parent company of CNET and mySimon, inc., today reported pro forma net income of $1.5 million or $.02 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2000, excluding goodwill amortization, merger costs, net losses on investment sales, stock based compensation and related taxes. Net revenues for CNET Networks increased 126 percent to $45.4 million in the first quarter, the company's highest annual revenue growth rate in two years. CNET Networks had not been expected to generate operating income until the fourth quarter of 2000.

The company's record revenues were a result of strong first quarter gains in traffic, as CNET Networks continued to demonstrate its ability to build robust marketplaces around content. CNET Networks' traffic increased to 16.5 million average daily page views in the first quarter. In addition, CNET Networks generated 218,000 leads per day to its more than 400 partner merchants. CNET Networks had a total of more than 800 unique customers in the quarter, including advertisers, merchants and licensees.

"We are very pleased to report record revenues in the first quarter that lead to CNET Networks generating operating income earlier than expected," stated Shelby Bonnie, CEO of CNET Networks, Inc. "Our strong results in the first quarter continue to demonstrate that content is the most powerful ingredient in building successful marketplaces. CNET Networks, with its CNET and mySimon brands, is ideally positioned as the leading content network providing news and information to buyers and sellers around the world."

"In the first quarter, CNET Networks expanded its reach with new content services and turned on new revenue streams, including CNET Data Services and CNET Radio," added Bonnie. "This continued growth is due to our ability to continually reinvest in our business while at the same time generating profits. With one of the strongest cash positions in the industry, we are primed to take advantage of opportunities that provide ongoing value to our users, customers and shareholders."

Including goodwill amortization, merger costs, net losses on investments, stock based compensation and related taxes, CNET Networks net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, 2000 was $19.5 million, or $0.23 per share.

CNET
CNET posted strong growth in revenue and operating income in the first quarter. Revenues for CNET were $43.6 million for the first quarter, a 117 percent increase over revenues of $20.1 million in the first quarter of 1999. Operating income before amortization was $5.6 million, a 173 percent increase over operating income of $2.1 million in the first quarter of 1999. Average daily page views rose to 16 million in the quarter, from 14 million in the fourth quarter of 1999. In addition, CNET generated an additional 1.3 million email dispatches per day to its large and growing base of 11 million dispatch subscribers. CNET Dispatches, which cover 86 different topics from technology news to Linux, are free to users and are advertising-supported.

CNET Sites and Services
In the quarter, CNET deepened its commitment to business users with new services designed specifically to meet their workplace needs. CNET Enterprise, a comprehensive new offering for business and IT professionals, is the Internet's first and only site to offer business purchase decision-makers product insight and industry analysis from eight of the foremost research organizations, including GartnerGroup, META Group, Forrester Research, Hurwitz Group, AMR Research, INPUT, SPEX, and Aberdeen. CNET Enterprise also features CNET's product reviews and specifications, editorial features, news and business resources. CNET also launched Linux Center, a site for Linux professionals.

In addition, through its joint venture with Asiacontent.com, CNET launched new sites in Korea and China, bringing the number of CNET sites in Asia to six, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan. Traffic on CNET Asia sites increased 150 percent from December 1999 to March 2000. CNET is planning to extend its global expansion to selected European markets in the second half of 2000.

CNET also launched CNET Radio, the country's first all-technology radio format. CNET Radio, a partnership with AMFM, the largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., airs in the San Francisco Bay Area on AMFM's station KNEW 910 AM. CNET and AMFM expect to roll CNET Radio out nationally by the end of 2000.

In the quarter, CNET News.com announced an unprecedented partnership to share news with the Associated Press. The partnership established CNET News.com as the first online news organization to provide CNET-branded content to AP, which distributes news, photos, graphics, audio and video to media outlets around the world, reaching one billion people a day.

As a leading provider of television programming for U.S. and international audiences, with its own state-of-the-art production facility, CNET is uniquely positioned to leverage broadband technology. In the quarter, CNET extended its relationship with AOL to provide broadband content through AOL Plus to AOL members with high-speed access. CNET will augment its current content for AOL members - covering hardware, software and consumer electronics - with related video from CNET's extensive television library, as well as programming it produces exclusively for the Web. In addition, CNET Media Productions, CNET's broadband production arm, signed an agreement with Service911 to produce over 1000 video tutorials about technology that will run on Service911's Web site.

CNET Data Services
CNET Data Services (CDS) continued to lead the market for technology product information, signing Ingram Micro, TechData Europe, Egghead.com and Buy.com, among many others, to end the quarter with more than 50 customers. CDS continued to grow its multilingual product database to more than 170,000 SKUs, adding approximately 55,000 SKUs since the beginning of the first quarter.

In the quarter, CNET expanded CDS' business-to-business offering with the acquisition of Digital Media Services, a provider of online marketing tools for computer resellers and manufacturers. CDS will syndicate the tools to its licensees, adding valuable marketing capabilities to its industry-leading product data.

mySimon
In March, CNET completed its acquisition of mySimon, inc., the Internet's leading comparison shopping service. Net revenues for mySimon were $1.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2000, a 40 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 1999. Operating loss for the first quarter was $4.9 million. In the quarter, mySimon generated an average of 56,000 leads per day compared to 40,000 leads per day in the fourth quarter of 1999, a 40 percent increase.

In the quarter, mySimon announced partnership agreements with Billboard magazine and Outsidemag.com (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Outside magazine), allowing visitors to the mySimon site to access information and expert advice from the Billboard and Outsidemag.com sites in an effort to help consumers make smarter purchasing decisions.

In March, CNET began to leverage its audience size and industry-leading position to build awareness, traffic and lead growth for mySimon. Additionally, mySimon has begun integration of CNET's content into several areas of the mySimon site. In the quarter, CNET sent a special email dispatch to its subscribers introducing them to mySimon. In addition, CNET incorporated mySimon results into CNET Search.com, as well as utilized advertising inventory on CNET to promote the mySimon service.

Investments
CNET Networks continues to have one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry with cash and marketable securities valued at approximately $600 million. The company currently has more than $300 million in cash, and investments in seven publicly-traded companies valued at approximately $350 million, as well as investments in more than a dozen privately-held companies.

Outlook
In 2000, revenues for CNET Networks, Inc., reflecting the combined businesses of CNET and mySimon, are expected to exceed $200 million. The company is expected to generate operating income before amortization expense for the full year 2000. CNET Networks previously stated that it expected to break even based on operating income before amortization expense in 2000, and begin generating operating income in the fourth quarter of 2000.

Stock Repurchase Program
CNET Networks today also announced that the Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase from time to time of up to $100 million of its common stock as market and business conditions warrant. There can be no assurance that the program will be completed. Purchases may be made on the open market or in private transactions and no time limit was set for completion of the program.

The company's repurchases could cause the accounting treatment of the mySimon acquisition to be changed from pooling of interests to the purchase method. As a result the company may incur a material increase in amortization expense.

CNET's first quarter earnings conference call will be Webcast live at 5PM EDT, today, April 19, 2000. To listen to the discussion of CNET's first quarter results, visit http://investor.cnet.com. Attending the call will be Halsey Minor, Chairman, Shelby Bonnie, CEO and Douglas Woodrum, CFO. The call will be archived for 30 days.

About CNET Networks, Inc.
CNET Networks, Inc. is the leading content network providing news and information to buyers and sellers all over the world. The CNET Internet site, www.cnet.com, is the world's most trusted source of information on computers, the Internet and technology, serving millions of users each day. CNET's Web content has also been localized for seven Asia Pacific markets: Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and Australia. CNET's award-winning television and radio programs are seen in 100 countries world wide as well as on CNBC and other national distribution in the U.S. CNET Data Services licenses its multi-lingual product database to U.S. and European online computer retailers, resellers and e-commerce companies. In March 2000, CNET acquired mySimon, the Internet's largest comparison shopping service, with more than 200 categories and over 2000 merchants. CNET currently has investments in cash and marketable securities that are valued at more than a half billion dollars.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward looking statements will prove to be correct. Risks that could cause the company's projections regarding revenues and net income to vary include a decrease in user traffic, inability to secure advertising commitments, failure of advertisers to meet their commitments, the launch of new lines of business, or acquisitions. Additional cautionary statements and risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the Company's forward-looking statements are disclosed in "Management's Discussion and Analysis" and in the Company's latest quarterly report on Form 10-Q and under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's latest annual report on Form 10-K, copies of which may be obtained from the Company.

Contacts:
April Walden
CNET Investor Relations
415/364-8553
aprilw@cnet.com

Blaise Simpson
CNET Public Relations
415/364-8447
blaises@cnet.com