Media General Reports July Revenues

Media General Reports July Revenues

RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG) today reported July 2006 total revenues of $86.6 million, a 12.9 percent increase from July 2005. By business segment, Publishing Division total revenues increased 0.9 percent, Broadcast Division total revenues increased 38.7 percent, and Interactive Media Division total revenues rose 39 percent. Reported revenues for July 2006 include the revenues of four NBC television stations acquired on June 26, 2006. Excluding the four stations, total Media General revenues increased 3 percent and total Broadcast Division revenues were up 5.6 percent. Beginning in the second quarter of 2006, results for all periods do not include the revenues of the television stations and their associated Web sites for which the company has announced divestiture plans. These revenues are reported as discontinued operations in accordance with GAAP.

"Media General's total revenue growth in July reflected strong Political advertising in several markets as well as the addition of four NBC stations to our Broadcast Division at the beginning of the month," said Marshall N. Morton, president and chief executive officer. "In the Publishing Division, growth in Retail advertising and real estate Classifieds offset soft automotive and help-wanted Classified advertising and lower National advertising revenues," Mr. Morton said.

"Online advertising growth continued to be robust, driven mostly by Classified advertising as well as new revenues in all categories. Page views and visitor sessions for July, which include the four NBC stations, rose 29 percent and 33 percent, respectively," he said.

Newspaper advertising in July increased 1.6 percent over last year and reflected increases at the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Winston-Salem Journal, which offset soft Retail and National advertising at The Tampa Tribune.

Retail revenues in July increased $735,000, or 3.8 percent. The Richmond Times-Dispatch generated a 3 percent increase in Retail revenues, and the Winston-Salem Journal posted a 16.2 percent advance. The increases resulted from higher spending in many categories, including financial and home improvement as well as new products. The increases offset a 1.8 percent decrease at The Tampa Tribune, which experienced lower entertainment and department store advertising that offset higher financial, home improvement and new product advertising. The Community newspaper group saw 4.3 percent Retail growth, led by increases in the Southwest Virginia, Charlottesville, Lynchburg and Northern Virginia markets.

Classified advertising revenues in July increased $320,000, or 1.6 percent, driven mostly by real estate advertising growth, especially at The Tampa Tribune. Total Classified revenues at The Tampa Tribune increased 4 percent. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported a 2.1 percent increase in total Classified revenues, while the Winston-Salem Journal saw a decrease of 3.6 percent, due mostly to lower spending in the automotive category. The Community newspaper group was up nominally in total Classified advertising.

Real estate linage increased 33.2 percent for the company's three metropolitan newspapers, driven by a 60.2 percent increase at The Tampa Tribune, which continued to benefit from a strong new-housing market in the Tampa region. The Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Winston-Salem Journal reported real estate advertising linage increases of 35.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Employment linage at the three metro newspapers decreased 7.8 percent overall. The Tampa Tribune and the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported decreases of 22.4 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. The Tampa decrease reflected continued softness in help-wanted advertising, particularly in some of its auxiliary employment products. Help-wanted linage was up 11.7 percent at the Winston-Salem Journal due to an increase in linage from local accounts. Automotive linage for the three metros declined 22 percent for the month and reflected continued spending restraint by automotive dealers.

National revenues declined $340,000, or 8.4 percent. The Richmond Times- Dispatch reported a 19.7 percent increase as the result of higher insurance, medical and electronics advertising. The Tampa Tribune and the Winston-Salem Journal had declines of 14.2 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively. The Tampa Tribune experienced lower spending in the financial and telecommunications categories, while the Winston-Salem Journal had decreased telecommunications and automotive advertising.

Circulation revenues were down $485,000, or 6.3 percent. Approximately 35 percent of the decline was due to the elimination of subsidies to independent carriers at several newspapers. Eight Media General newspapers posted increases in net-paid Daily Circulation, including the Richmond Times- Dispatch, while overall volume decreased.

In the Broadcast Division, gross time sales increased $10.2 million, or 45.6 percent, including the four new NBC stations. Excluding the new stations, gross time sales increased 5.9 percent.

Local time sales increased $4.1 million, or 27.1 percent, including the new stations. Excluding the new stations, Local time sales decreased 3.1 percent. Total Local time sales in July reflected higher spending in the furniture and telecommunications categories and declines in automotive and financial spending.

National time sales increased $4.6 million, or 63.6 percent, including the new NBC stations. Excluding these stations, National time sales increased 10.7 percent. Total National time sales reflected increased automotive, services and telecommunications advertising and lower spending in the corporate, fast food and entertainment categories.

Political revenues for the month of $1.7 million were up significantly from last July, including the new stations, which generated $540,000 in Political revenues. Political spending was driven primarily by the gubernatorial races in Florida and Alabama and by U.S. Senate and state campaigns in Rhode Island, Ohio and Tennessee.

Interactive Media Division revenue growth reflected higher advertising in all categories, led by increases of 19.8 percent and 47.6 percent, respectively, in online Classifieds and Local advertising. National/Regional advertising more than doubled and was mostly due to expanded campaigns across multiple Web sites. Real estate advertising growth was strong in July, and nearly all Media General Web sites generated higher revenues. Local revenue growth reflected increased sponsorships.

About Media General

Media General is a multimedia 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, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Winston-Salem Journal; 22 daily community newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina; and more than 150 weekly newspapers and other publications. The company's broadcasting assets currently include 30 network- affiliated television stations that reach more than 33 percent of the television households in the Southeast and more than 10 percent of those in the United States. The company's interactive media assets include more than 75 online enterprises that are associated with its newspapers and television stations. Media General also owns a 33 percent interest in SP Newsprint Company, a manufacturer of recycled newsprint.

MEDIA GENERAL INC.
Revenues and Page Views
July
2006 2005 % Change

Revenues (000) $86,630 $76,734 12.9 %
Publishing 52,896 52,401 0.9 %
Broadcast 31,757 22,892 38.7 %
Interactive Media 2,616 1,882 39.0 %
Eliminations (639) (441) (44.9)%

Discontinued Operations(1) 3,560 3,569 (0.3)%

Selected Publishing Revenues (000)
By Category
Advertising $44,327 $43,636 1.6 %
Classified 20,145 19,823 1.6 %
Retail 19,841 19,107 3.8 %
National 3,665 4,002 (8.4)%
Other 676 704 (4.0)%
Circulation 7,290 7,776 (6.3)%
By Property
Richmond 12,264 12,040 1.9 %
Tampa 17,164 17,218 (0.3)%
Winston-Salem 4,861 4,681 3.8 %
Community Newspapers 18,424 18,291 0.7 %

Advertising Revenues (000)(2)
Richmond $9,581 $9,219 3.9 %
Tampa 15,587 15,724 (0.9)%
Winston-Salem 3,896 3,721 4.7 %
Community Newspapers 14,887 14,615 1.9 %

Broadcast Time Sales (gross) (000) $32,718 $22,472 45.6 %
Local 19,309 15,191 27.1 %
National 11,734 7,172 63.6 %
Political 1,675 109 ---

Selected Online Total Page Views
TBO.com 18,614,117 22,274,736 (16.4)%
(Tampa, Fla.)
TimesDispatch.com 10,131,187 8,947,770 13.2 %
(Richmond, Va.)
JournalNow.com 3,278,469 3,858,028 (15.0)%
(Winston-Salem, N.C.)

Year-to-Date
2006 2005 % Change

Revenues (000) $534,131 $508,313 5.1 %
Publishing 351,910 342,294 2.8 %
Broadcast 170,688 157,398 8.4 %
Interactive Media 15,332 11,305 35.6 %
Eliminations (3,799) (2,684) (41.5)%

Discontinued Operations(1) 23,779 23,636 0.6 %

Selected Publishing Revenues (000)
By Category
Advertising $294,909 $283,501 4.0 %
Classified 134,953 124,886 8.1 %
Retail 131,006 127,724 2.6 %
National 24,615 26,691 (7.8)%
Other 4,335 4,200 3.2 %
Circulation 48,744 51,298 (5.0)%
By Property
Richmond 82,422 81,612 1.0 %
Tampa 118,360 111,645 6.0 %
Winston-Salem 31,654 31,359 0.9 %
Community Newspapers 118,287 116,450 1.6 %

Advertising Revenues (000)(2)
Richmond $64,750 $63,051 2.7 %
Tampa 107,196 100,492 6.7 %
Winston-Salem 25,332 25,284 0.2 %
Community Newspapers 95,121 92,836 2.5 %

Broadcast Time Sales (gross) (000) $173,037 $155,369 11.4 %
Local 108,460 101,876 6.5 %
National 58,620 52,619 11.4 %
Political 5,957 874 ---

Selected Online Total Page Views
TBO.com 118,874,891 128,518,866 (7.5)%
(Tampa, Fla.)
TimesDispatch.com 75,799,412 59,488,998 27.4 %
(Richmond, Va.)
JournalNow.com 25,201,901 25,099,431 0.4 %
(Winston-Salem, N.C.)

Note: All data are subject to later adjustment.
(1) Revenues from certain broadcast and interactive media operations that
the Company is divesting.
(2) Amounts reflected included both daily and weekly newspapers.

MEDIA GENERAL INC.
Daily Newspapers Advertising Linage*

July
2006 2005 % Change
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Retail 32,286 29,390 9.9 %
National 9,295 9,780 (5.0)%
Classified 80,199 85,241 (5.9)%
Total 121,780 124,411 (2.1)%
Tampa Tribune
Retail 45,958 49,372 (6.9)%
National 13,683 18,370 (25.5)%
Classified 146,733 152,905 (4.0)%
Total 206,374 220,647 (6.5)%
Winston-Salem Journal
Retail 35,944 36,609 (1.8)%
National 7,564 9,154 (17.4)%
Classified 67,273 70,007 (3.9)%
Total 110,781 115,770 (4.3)%
Community & Associates Dailies
Retail 365,340 370,182 (1.3)%
National 26,290 34,246 (23.2)%
Classified 524,526 532,718 (1.5)%
Total 916,156 937,146 (2.2)%
Media General Dailies Total
Retail 479,528 485,553 (1.2)%
National 56,832 71,550 (20.6)%
Classified 818,731 840,871 (2.6)%
Total 1,355,091 1,397,974 (3.1)%

Year-to-Date
2006 2005 % Change
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Retail 224,037 219,089 2.3 %
National 68,553 73,923 (7.3)%
Classified 520,299 556,680 (6.5)%
Total 812,889 849,692 (4.3)%
Tampa Tribune
Retail 318,103 325,210 (2.2)%
National 93,872 110,086 (14.7)%
Classified 1,006,232 987,226 1.9 %
Total 1,418,207 1,422,522 (0.3)%
Winston-Salem Journal
Retail 256,023 255,035 0.4 %
National 56,743 63,490 (10.6)%
Classified 415,215 447,029 (7.1)%
Total 727,981 765,554 (4.9)%
Community & Associates Dailies
Retail 2,408,168 2,324,217 3.6 %
National 150,113 209,986 (28.5)%
Classified 3,245,858 3,231,574 0.4 %
Total 5,804,139 5,765,777 0.7 %
Media General Dailies Total
Retail 3,206,331 3,123,551 2.7 %
National 369,281 457,485 (19.3)%
Classified 5,187,604 5,222,509 (0.7)%
Total 8,763,216 8,803,545 (0.5)%

* Advertising is in column inches - full run only

Source: Media General Inc.

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

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

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