Media General Reports May Revenues; Provides Second-Quarter Earnings Guidance

Media General Reports May Revenues; Provides Second-Quarter Earnings Guidance

RICHMOND, Va., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG) today reported that total revenues for May 2005 increased 3 percent, to $72.6 million, from May 2004. On a divisional basis, Publishing revenues increased 3.8 percent, Broadcast revenues were up 0.5 percent, and Interactive Media Division revenues rose 43.8 percent.

"We were pleased with our May revenue performance, which reflected solid growth in Publishing and healthy gains in Local and National time sales in Broadcast," said J. Stewart Bryan III, chairman and chief executive. "In Publishing, Retail advertising continued to show improvement and Classified, while not as strong as previous months, reflected solid year-over-year growth. In Broadcast, new business development initiatives continued to drive strong Local revenue growth and helped to overcome the absence of Political revenues and lower automotive advertising."

Newspaper advertising revenues increased $1.8 million, or 5.1 percent, over last May, and reflected a 6.2 percent gain at the Richmond Times-Dispatch and a 4.7 percent increase at The Tampa Tribune. Including revenues from the company's newspaper Web sites, publishing revenues increased 4.6 percent and newspaper advertising revenues rose 6 percent for the month.

Classified revenues increased $800,000, or 5.2 percent, compared with May 2004. This gain, one of the smallest year-over-year monthly increases in the last two years, mostly reflected softness at The Tampa Tribune, where Classified revenues were up 3.4 percent. Employment advertising in Tampa continued strong, while automotive classifieds fell below expectations. Classified revenues increased 6.8 percent at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 9.4 percent at the Winston-Salem Journal, and 4.4 percent at the company's Community newspapers. Including online advertising, Classified revenues increased 7.2 percent in May.

Employment linage increased 15.6 percent at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 10 percent at The Tampa Tribune and 4.4 percent at the Winston-Salem Journal. Automotive linage was down at all three metros, while real estate linage was higher.

Retail revenues increased $940,000, or 5.7 percent, spurred by positive results at The Tampa Tribune, which were 13.4 percent ahead of last year. Tampa's gains were due to strength in the financial, department store, entertainment and electronic categories as well as increased color revenues. Retail revenues at the Richmond Times-Dispatch increased 1.8 percent, and reflected gains in the financial and grocery store categories. The Community newspapers reported a 2.1 percent increase in Retail advertising. Total Retail preprint revenue was up 1 percent over last year.

National revenues were essentially even with last May. Higher national revenues at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, resulting primarily from an increase in preprint revenue, were offset by lower automotive and travel advertising at The Tampa Tribune.

Circulation revenues were $300,000, or 4.4 percent, below last year, mostly due to a change in wholesale rates to independent carriers and some volume declines. For May, Daily circulation volume increased at 11 Media General newspapers, while Sunday circulation was up at eight newspapers.

In the Broadcast Division, gross time sales declined $170,000, or 0.6 percent, from last May. Local and National transactional sales improved, increasing $1.7 million and substantially offsetting a $1.9 million decline in Political spot sales.

Local time sales increased $1.1 million, or 6.6 percent, reflecting gains in the furniture, financial, home improvement, grocery store and entertainment categories that more than offset declines in the automotive and the corporate categories.

National time sales rose $660,000, or 7.4 percent, primarily from increases in the telecommunications, drug stores and entertainment categories that more than offset decreases in automotive and financial advertising.

Interactive Media Division revenues rose 43.8 percent to $1.5 million. This growth was driven by a 51 percent increase in Classified advertising, reflecting continued strong liner upsell activity and special product revenue. Local advertising was up 49 percent.

Outlook

Media General expects earnings per share for the second quarter of 2005 to be within the current range of analyst estimates of 77 cents per share to 84 cents per share, excluding a gain on the sale of the company's 20 percent interest in the Denver Post that is expected to be approximately 78 cents per share. The company earned 78 cents per share in the 2004 second quarter.

The company plans to release second-quarter earnings on July 12, 2005, before the market opens.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties and should be understood in the context of the company's publicly available reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Media General's future performance could differ materially from its current expectations.

About Media General

Media General is a diversified communications company operating leading newspapers, television stations and online enterprises, primarily in the Southeastern United States. The company's publishing assets include three metropolitan newspapers, The Tampa Tribune, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the Winston-Salem Journal; 22 daily community newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina; and more than 100 weekly newspapers and other publications. The company's broadcasting assets include 26 network-affiliated television stations that reach more than 30 percent of the television households in the Southeast and nearly 8 percent of those in the United States. The company's interactive media assets include more than 50 online enterprises that are associated with its newspapers and television stations. Media General also owns a 33 percent interest in SP Newsprint Company.

MEDIA GENERAL INC.
Revenues and Page Views

May
--------------------------------
2005 2004 % Change
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Revenues (000) $72,588 $70,467 3.0 %
Publishing 45,078 43,440 3.8 %
Broadcast 26,376 26,247 0.5 %
Interactive Media 1,537 1,069 43.8 %
Eliminations (403) (289) (39.4)%

Selected Publishing Revenues (000)
By Category
Advertising $37,487 $35,681 5.1 %
Classified 16,237 15,440 5.2 %
Retail 17,598 16,654 5.7 %
National 3,096 3,104 (0.3)%
Other 556 483 15.1 %
Circulation 6,562 6,864 (4.4)%
By Property
Richmond 10,806 10,454 3.4 %
Tampa 14,155 13,546 4.5 %
Winston-Salem 4,139 3,990 3.7 %
Community Newspapers 15,812 15,277 3.5 %

Advertising Revenues (000)
Richmond $8,386 $7,894 6.2 %
Tampa 12,768 12,199 4.7 %
Winston-Salem 3,339 3,229 3.4 %
Community Newspapers 12,652 12,190 3.8 %

Broadcast Time Sales (gross) (000) $26,738 $26,909 (0.6)%
Local 17,045 15,984 6.6 %
National 9,558 8,900 7.4 %
Political 135 2,025 (93.3)%

Selected Online Total Page Views
TBO.com 15,951,683 14,137,821 12.8 %
(Tampa, Fla.)
timesdispatch.com 7,935,106 6,146,257 29.1 %
(Richmond, Va.)
JournalNow.com 3,416,634 2,837,824 20.4 %
(Winston-Salem, N.C.)

Year-to-Date
--------------------------------
2005 2004 % Change
--------------------------------

Revenues (000) $380,841 $364,682 4.4 %
Publishing 245,700 233,515 5.2 %
Broadcast 129,126 127,333 1.4 %
Interactive Media 7,913 5,355 47.8 %
Eliminations (1,898) (1,521) 24.8 %

Selected Publishing Revenues (000)
By Category
Advertising $202,916 $190,050 6.8 %
Classified 88,523 81,169 9.1 %
Retail 92,270 88,761 4.0 %
National 19,164 17,132 11.9 %
Other 2,959 2,988 (1.0)%
Circulation 37,215 38,327 (2.9)%
By Property
Richmond 59,070 57,210 3.3 %
Tampa 80,069 73,652 8.7 %
Winston-Salem 22,551 22,023 2.4 %
Community Newspapers 83,120 79,723 4.3 %

Advertising Revenues (000)
Richmond $45,654 $43,188 5.7 %
Tampa 71,678 65,598 9.3 %
Winston-Salem 18,229 17,834 2.2 %
Community Newspapers 66,204 62,592 5.8 %

Broadcast Time Sales (gross) (000) $128,298 $127,502 0.6 %
Local 83,649 77,449 8.0 %
National 43,932 43,316 1.4 %
Political 717 6,737 (89.4)%

Selected Online Total Page Views
TBO.com 86,122,571 71,934,582 19.7 %
(Tampa, Fla.)
timesdispatch.com 41,872,761 31,891,924 31.3 %
(Richmond, Va.)
JournalNow.com 17,591,297 13,572,803 29.6 %
(Winston-Salem, N.C.)

Notes: All data are subject to later adjustment.

MEDIA GENERAL
Daily Newspapers Advertising Linage*

May
--------------------------------
2005 2004 % Change
--------------------------------
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
Retail 30,960 30,925 0.1 %
National 9,365 8,350 12.2 %
Classified 73,560 72,073 2.1 %
Total 113,885 111,348 2.3 %
TAMPA TRIBUNE
Retail 43,653 37,205 17.3 %
National 13,952 15,591 (10.5)%
Classified 128,427 131,034 (2.0)%
Total 186,032 183,830 1.2 %
WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL
Retail 38,212 37,497 1.9 %
National 7,321 8,176 (10.5)%
Classified 55,519 57,994 (4.3)%
Total 101,052 103,667 (2.5)%
COMMUNITY & ASSOCIATES DAILIES
Retail 335,582 327,528 2.5 %
National 25,088 28,213 (11.1)%
Classified 436,707 474,872 (8.0)%
Total 797,377 830,613 (4.0)%
MEDIA GENERAL DAILIES TOTAL
Retail 448,407 433,155 3.5 %
National 55,726 60,330 (7.6)%
Classified 694,213 735,973 (5.7)%
Total 1,198,346 1,229,458 (2.5)%

Year-to-Date
--------------------------------
2005 2004 % Change
--------------------------------
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
Retail 162,220 169,559 (4.3)%
National 55,401 54,051 2.5 %
Classified 395,740 389,766 1.5 %
Total 613,361 613,376 ---
TAMPA TRIBUNE
Retail 234,063 219,286 6.7 %
National 77,994 71,954 8.4 %
Classified 706,817 700,122 1.0 %
Total 1,018,874 991,362 2.8 %
WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL
Retail 183,517 190,298 (3.6)%
National 45,362 44,489 2.0 %
Classified 318,384 310,414 2.6 %
Total 547,263 545,201 0.4 %
COMMUNITY & ASSOCIATES DAILIES
Retail 1,657,308 1,661,332 (0.2)%
National 148,690 137,862 7.9 %
Classified 2,283,378 2,354,768 (3.0)%
Total 4,089,376 4,153,962 (1.6)%
MEDIA GENERAL DAILIES TOTAL
Retail 2,237,108 2,240,475 (0.2)%
National 327,447 308,356 6.2 %
Classified 3,704,319 3,755,070 (1.4)%
Total 6,268,874 6,303,901 (0.6)%

* Advertising is in column inches -- full run only

Source: Media General

CONTACT: Investors: Lou Anne J. Nabhan, +1-804-649-6103, or Media: Ray
Kozakewicz, +1-804-649-6748, both of Media General

Web site: http://www.mediageneral.com/

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