On-Line Guide to TV Viewing Offered by Upstart Company
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   By Stacy Lu
   Sept. 16, 1996

   Maybe the expected convergence of television and the Internet is years
   away. But there is now another sign that it is likely to occur --
   namely, the creation of a personalized on-line television viewing
   guide.

   The Gist, the first product of Gist Communications Inc. in New York,
   made its debut last week with Web listings, reviews and articles, as
   well as television program listings.

   The site (www.thegist.com) uses software called TV1 to offer customized
   television schedules. Users enter their choices of channels, subject
   matter and viewing times, and instantly receive a lineup for the
   following week.

   TV1, which was acquired by Gist Communications on June 1, already
   existed on a Web site. It had 90,000 registered users who have been
   transferred to Gist.

   Gist will use the demographic information from the users of the free
   service to attract advertisers, which so far include NBC, which is a
   unit of the General Electric Company; Infoseek, an on-line search
   service, and Freeloader, a Web browser service owned by Individual Inc.

   ''This is the formula people think of as the future of the Net,'' said
   Jonathan Greenberg, chairman and editor of Gist Communications. ''One,
   we give people a reason to register. Two, we have an advertiser base
   that matches user interests. Three, we have the largest community in
   the world: TV viewers.''

   Of course, most of the television community has not yet made it to the
   Web, but Mr. Greenberg is not concerned. ''Of those who have Internet
   access, they all watch television,'' he said. ''That's probably the one
   thing they all have in common.''

   The site features daily program reviews and picks Web highlights,
   though on a more modest scale than its television guide. It classifies
   its offbeat Web selections as ''Hilarious'' -- Friday's section
   featured jokes about dentists from the ''Dental Crypt'' -- ''Dazzling''
   or ''Obscure.''

   Rounding out the site's content as well as its advertising feasibility
   are articles on entertainment, home technology and media.

   According to Mr. Greenberg, Gist Communications is negotiating to offer
   its product through a commercial on-line service, and will soon
   announce an agreement to share its technology with one of the nation's
   largest media companies, which he would not identify.

   Gist Communications is backed by Neptuno G.m.b.H., a subsidiary of Sal.
   Oppenheim Jr. & Compagnie, a private bank based in Cologne, Germany.
   Neptuno's initial investment was several million dollars.

   Mr. Greenberg believes the existence of Gist Communications, let alone
   its success, is inevitable. ''This is how you're going to get your home
   entertainment information in three to five years,'' he said.
   ''Eventually, there will be a single monitor, and you'll be able to
   switch back and forth between television and the Internet.

   ''At that stage, you're probably going to be programming a lot of
   information on your home computer. Your menu is not going to be the 40
   channels we give you today, your menu is going to be thousands of
   choices, and you're not going to read a telephone book to find out
   what's on at 8 o'clock.''