Media General Reports November Revenues

Media General Reports November Revenues

RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG) today reported November 2006 total revenues of $91.7 million, a 21.2 percent increase from November 2005, including the revenues of four new NBC television stations. Excluding the new stations, total revenues increased 6.1 percent. By business segment, Publishing Division total revenues declined 4.3 percent. Broadcast Division total revenues increased 77.4 percent, or 28.2 percent excluding the new stations. Interactive Media Division total revenues rose 23.9 percent.

"In November, Media General benefited from an increase in broadcast television gross time sales of $19.7 million, or 82.6 percent, including our new NBC stations. That increase included $13.2 million of Political revenues, of which more than 42 percent came from our new stations in Columbus, Ohio, and Providence, Rhode Island. Campaign spending also was strong at our stations in Tampa, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama," said Marshall N. Morton, president and chief executive officer.

"Publishing Division results reflected weakness in Classified and National advertising, while Retail advertising increased nominally. The Retail category has been a solid performer this year, up 4 percent year-to-date, which mostly reflects the benefit of our new product initiatives. Our new products target communities of particular interests and provide advertisers the opportunity to reach desired audiences," Mr. Morton said.

"The Interactive Media Division's revenue growth reflected sharply increased Local and National/Regional advertising on our Web sites, partially offset by a decline in online Classified advertising. Page views and visitor sessions rose 23 percent and 29 percent, respectively, including our new NBC station Web sites," said Mr. Morton.

Newspaper advertising revenues in November declined $1.9 million, or 4.3 percent. Including online revenues, newspaper advertising revenues decreased 3.9 percent for the month.

Retail advertising revenues increased $75,000, or 0.3 percent. Retail revenues for the Winston-Salem Journal were up 7.6 percent, and reflected the publication of two new monthly magazines and higher spending in the sporting goods and political categories. Retail revenues at the Richmond Times-Dispatch were even with last year, and reflected lower spending in the department store and drug store categories offset by revenues from new products. The Tampa Tribune and its associated newspapers reported a 1.9 percent decrease in Retail revenues, due to lower spending in the department store and financial categories, partially offset by revenues from Centro, a year-old Spanish- language weekly. Retail revenues for the Community newspaper group rose 1 percent, and reflected growth in the Alabama and Lynchburg, Virginia, markets.

Classified advertising revenues overall declined $1.2 million, or 7.5 percent. Classified revenues at the Richmond Times-Dispatch increased 1.6 percent, while The Tampa Tribune and Winston-Salem Journal reported declines of 14.8 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. The Community newspaper group reported a 3.2 percent decrease.

Real estate classified linage for the company's three metros decreased 11.5 percent in the aggregate. The Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Winston- Salem Journal reported increases of 8.4 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, while The Tampa Tribune experienced a 26.5 percent decrease from the prior- year's very strong real estate linage totals.

Employment linage at the three metros declined 18.1 percent and included decreases of 29.3 percent at The Tampa Tribune, 13.7 percent at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and 6.3 percent at the Winston-Salem Journal. Automotive linage for the three metros was down 20.7 percent for the month.

National revenues declined $620,000, or 15.7 percent, mostly reflecting weakness in telecommunications advertising. National revenues at the Richmond Times-Dispatch increased 3.7 percent, as a result of increased insurance advertising and higher rates for Sunday advertising. The Tampa Tribune reported a decline of 24.6 percent, which reflected decreases in the telecommunications, health care and automotive categories. At the Winston- Salem Journal, National revenues declined 19.9 percent, reflecting lower spending in the telecommunications and insurance categories. National revenues for the Community newspaper group were up 8.7 percent.

While Circulation revenues declined $410,000, or 6.3 percent, approximately 55 percent of the decrease was the result of a change in wholesale rates to carriers at several newspapers. Excluding this impact, Circulation revenues declined only 2.7 percent. Seven Media General newspapers, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, generated increases in net- paid Daily Circulation; eight did so for Sunday, including the Winston-Salem Journal.

In the Broadcast Division, gross time sales increased $19.7 million, or 82.6 percent, including the company's four new NBC stations. Excluding the new stations, gross time sales increased 27.7 percent.

Total Political revenues of $13.2 million compared with $275,000 last November, and were generated during the final week of hotly contested gubernatorial races in Rhode Island, Florida and Ohio, and by U.S. Senate campaigns in Rhode Island, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee. This was augmented by heavy issue spending in Rhode Island, Florida and Ohio. Political revenues included $5.6 million from the four new NBC stations.

Local time sales increased $3.1 million, or 19.2 percent, including the new stations. Excluding these stations, Local time sales decreased 8 percent. National time sales increased $3.6 million, or 50 percent, including the new stations. Excluding these stations, National time sales increased 0.8 percent. The decrease in Local advertising reflected the displacement of spot inventory to accommodate the significant increased volume of Political advertising, and also reflected continued softness in certain spending categories, especially automotive.

In the Interactive Media Division, total advertising was up 19.3 percent, including the new NBC station Web sites. Local revenues increased 51 percent and National/Regional advertising more than doubled. Online Classified revenues declined 4.6 percent compared to last November, mostly due to softness in help-wanted advertising. Revenues from Media General's Blockdot advergaming business were up 68 percent in November.

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 include 23 network-affiliated television stations that reach more than 32 percent of the television households in the Southeast and nearly 9.5 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

November
2006 2005 % Change

Revenues (000) $ 91,724 $ 75,693 21.2 %
Publishing 48,915 51,128 (4.3)%
Broadcast 41,112 23,175 77.4 %
Interactive Media 2,240 1,808 23.9 %
Eliminations (543) (418) (29.9)%

Discontinued Operations(1) --- 3,971 (100.0)%

Selected Publishing Revenues (000)
By Category
Advertising $ 41,627 $ 43,490 (4.3)%
Classified 15,226 16,463 (7.5)%
Retail 22,547 22,472 0.3 %
National 3,328 3,949 (15.7)%
Other 526 606 (13.2)%
Circulation 6,130 6,540 (6.3)%
By Property
Richmond 11,409 11,506 (0.8)%
Tampa 15,804 17,524 (9.8)%
Winston-Salem 4,777 4,843 (1.4)%
Community Newspapers 16,752 16,982 (1.4)%

Advertising Revenues (000)(2)
Richmond $ 9,187 $ 9,091 1.1 %
Tampa 14,325 16,138 (11.2)%
Winston-Salem 3,967 4,010 (1.1)%
Community Newspapers 13,801 13,871 (0.5)%

Broadcast Time Sales (gross) (000) $ 43,501 $ 23,817 82.6 %
Local 19,418 16,285 19.2 %
National 10,908 7,259 50.3 %
Political 13,175 273 ---

Selected Online Total Page Views
TBO.com 15,352,838 16,988,413 (9.6)%
(Tampa, Fla.)
TimesDispatch.com 10,197,518 9,147,971 11.5 %
(Richmond, Va.)
JournalNow.com 3,665,869 3,665,288 ---
(Winston-Salem, N.C.)

Year-to-Date
2006 2005 % Change

Revenues (000) $ 890,378 $ 806,391 10.4 %
Publishing 546,625 541,717 0.9 %
Broadcast 324,724 250,301 29.7 %
Interactive Media 25,079 18,772 33.6 %
Eliminations (6,050) (4,399) (37.5)%

Discontinued Operations(1) 32,078 38,287 (16.2)%

Selected Publishing Revenues (000)
By Category
Advertising $ 459,585 $ 451,234 1.9 %
Classified 204,505 196,691 4.0 %
Retail 210,213 206,135 2.0 %
National 37,940 41,494 (8.6)%
Other 6,927 6,914 0.2 %
Circulation 74,335 78,641 (5.5)%
By Property
Richmond 129,054 128,693 0.3 %
Tampa 180,072 176,932 1.8 %
Winston-Salem 49,999 49,834 0.3 %
Community Newspapers 185,393 184,065 0.7 %

Advertising Revenues (000)(2)
Richmond $ 102,076 $ 100,116 2.0 %
Tampa 163,370 160,048 2.1 %
Winston-Salem 40,196 40,292 (0.2)%
Community Newspapers 149,771 147,380 1.6 %

Broadcast Time Sales (gross) (000) $ 337,576 $ 248,616 35.8 %
Local 185,402 163,644 13.3 %
National 102,482 82,995 23.5 %
Political 49,692 1,977 ---

Selected Online Total Page Views
TBO.com 192,248,155 212,117,359 (9.4)%
(Tampa, Fla.)
TimesDispatch.com 116,964,856 98,470,097 18.8 %
(Richmond, Va.)
JournalNow.com 40,357,362 40,557,624 (0.5)%
(Winston-Salem, N.C.)

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

MEDIA GENERAL INC.
Daily Newspapers Advertising Linage*

November
2006 2005 % Change
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Retail 32,980 32,573 1.2 %
National 8,847 9,255 (4.4)%
Classified 59,762 63,420 (5.8)%
Total 101,589 105,248 (3.5)%

Tampa Tribune
Retail 53,572 54,211 (1.2)%
National 10,234 15,651 (34.6)%
Classified 110,336 131,853 (16.3)%
Total 174,142 201,715 (13.7)%

Winston-Salem Journal
Retail 39,126 39,138 ---
National 7,387 9,668 (23.6)%
Classified 48,298 55,190 (12.5)%
Total 94,811 103,996 (8.8)%

Community Dailies
Retail 370,104 366,287 1.0 %
National 22,963 27,837 (17.5)%
Classified 369,676 390,273 (5.3)%
Total 762,743 784,397 (2.8)%

Media General Dailies Total
Retail 495,782 492,209 0.7 %
National 49,431 62,411 (20.8)%
Classified 588,072 640,736 (8.2)%
Total 1,133,285 1,195,356 (5.2)%

Year-to-Date
2006 2005 % Change
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Retail 353,131 348,961 1.2 %
National 104,208 113,691 (8.3)%
Classified 790,562 848,090 (6.8)%
Total 1,247,901 1,310,742 (4.8)%

Tampa Tribune
Retail 501,700 510,817 (1.8)%
National 137,506 169,739 (19.0)%
Classified 1,488,325 1,536,723 (3.1)%
Total 2,127,531 2,217,279 (4.0)%

Winston-Salem Journal
Retail 400,376 403,457 (0.8)%
National 88,067 96,639 (8.9)%
Classified 638,049 688,418 (7.3)%
Total 1,126,492 1,188,514 (5.2)%

Community Dailies
Retail 3,791,364 3,719,662 1.9 %
National 231,247 319,421 (27.6)%
Classified 4,972,030 4,968,669 0.1 %
Total 8,994,641 9,007,752 (0.1)%

Media General Dailies Total
Retail 5,046,571 4,982,897 1.3 %
National 561,028 699,490 (19.8)%
Classified 7,888,966 8,041,900 (1.9)%
Total 13,496,565 13,724,287 (1.7)%

* Advertising is in column inches - full run only

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: etucker@mediageneral.com

Source: Media General, Inc.

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

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

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