Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch was two web businesses glued together three months before its IPO. One sold concert and game tickets online. The other ran CitySearch, a set of local city guides that Bill Gross had co-founded in 1995. Barry Diller's USA Networks owned Ticketmaster and held about 68 percent of the new company. In December 1998, at the height of the web stock frenzy, the combination went public on Nasdaq.

A Guide Plus a Box Office

CitySearch launched its first city guide in May 1996, with listings for restaurants, shops and events. Ticketmaster Online sold tickets for the live events that Ticketmaster's clients put on. In September 1998 the two merged. The plan was to use Ticketmaster's reach in cities at home and abroad to spread CitySearch into new places. Charles Conn ran the combined company as chief executive from Pasadena.

Fourteen Dollars, Then Folded In

The company priced at $14 a share in December 1998 and listed on Nasdaq as TMCS. In 2001 it combined with the rest of Ticketmaster and took the Ticketmaster name. USA Interactive bought out the public shareholders, and the company ended its public registration in January 2003. IAC spun Ticketmaster off again in 2008. In 2010 Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation and left the market for good.

Cover: At the Concert, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a night at the concert (tickets).