International Entertainment News: Media General Reports June 2007 Revenues

Media General Reports June 2007 Revenues

RICHMOND, Va., July 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG) today reported June 2007 total revenues of $72.5 million, a 3.4 percent increase from June 2006, including the revenues of four NBC television stations acquired June 26, 2006. Excluding the new stations, total revenues declined 7.5 percent. By business segment, Publishing Division total revenues decreased 10.1 percent. Broadcast Division total revenues increased 24.8 percent, including the new stations, and decreased 7.8 percent, excluding the new stations. Interactive Media Division total revenues rose 58.9 percent.

Publishing Division

Newspaper advertising revenues in June declined $4.4 million, or 11.7 percent, reflecting lower spending in all advertising categories, most notably Classified advertising at The Tampa Tribune, which was down 37.7 percent.

Total Classified advertising revenues decreased $3 million, or 17.5 percent. The Richmond Times-Dispatch and Winston Salem-Journal reported declines of 2.3 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively. The Community newspapers were down 6.4 percent.

Employment linage at the company's three metro newspapers decreased 28.5 percent. This included declines of 50.1 percent at The Tampa Tribune, 14.9 percent at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and 31.1 percent at the Winston-Salem Journal.

Automotive linage for the three metros decreased 17.2 percent. The Richmond Times-Dispatch generated a 4.2 percent increase due to new advertising incentives, while The Tampa Tribune and Winston-Salem Journal reported declines of 17.1 percent and 39.9 percent, respectively.

Real estate linage for the three metros was down 36.8 percent. The Richmond Times-Dispatch saw a 3.9 percent decrease, while The Tampa Tribune experienced a 68 percent decrease and the Winston-Salem Journal was down 13.2 percent.

Retail advertising revenues in June decreased $1 million, or 6 percent. The Tampa Tribune and its associated newspapers experienced a decline of 12.6 percent, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported a 3 percent decrease and the Winston-Salem Journal posted a 17.6 percent decline. The decreases at the three metros reflected lower home improvement, furniture store, department store, medical, office supply and financial advertising. The Community newspaper group was up 1.3 percent, reflecting increases in the Alabama and Northern Virginia markets.

National revenues decreased $300,000, or 8.9 percent. The Tampa Tribune and its associated newspapers saw a decrease of 9.8 percent, due to lower financial, automotive and travel advertising. The Richmond Times-Dispatch decreased 17.4 percent, due to lower telecommunications advertising and a major ad campaign by an advertiser last year that was not repeated. The Winston-Salem Journal generated an 11.3 increase, due to higher medical spending.

While Circulation revenues declined $290,000, or 4.8 percent, approximately 60 percent of the decrease was the result of a change in wholesale rates to carriers for which there is a corresponding expense decrease. Excluding this impact, Circulation revenues declined 1.9 percent.

Broadcast Division

In the Broadcast Division, gross time sales increased $6.7 million, or 28.8 percent, including the new stations. Same-station time sales decreased 7.5 percent, entirely due to lower Political spending in this off-election year. Excluding Political, Local and National time sales increased 1.2 percent. In most markets, Local and National transactional time sales remained soft, particularly at a number of NBC-affiliated stations, including Tampa.

Local time sales increased $4.9 million, or 35.6 percent, including the new stations. Same-station Local time sales declined 1.4 percent, mostly due to lower spending in the furniture and fast food categories, partially offset by higher automotive and transportation advertising.

National time sales increased $3.6 million, or 50.6 percent, including the new stations. Same-station National time sales rose 6.2 percent, as a result of higher spending in the corporate, services, and furniture categories.

Political revenues of $340,000 compared to $2.2 million last June, and represented early campaign spending from gubernatorial and lieutenant governor races in Louisiana and Mississippi and issue advertising in Ohio, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

Interactive Media Division

Interactive Media Division revenues increased 58.9 percent, including the new NBC station Web sites, and higher sales from the division's Blockdot advergaming business. Page views and visitor sessions increased 20.6 percent and 26.5 percent, respectively, including the new NBC station Web sites. Sluggish Classified advertising spending continued in most markets, particularly Tampa, and online Classified revenues were down 5.6 percent. Local revenues increased 66 percent over last year, reflecting increased direct sales. National/Regional advertising more than doubled as a result of higher spending from national networks, particularly in the automotive and telecommunications categories at TBO.com in Tampa. The launch of the Yahoo!HotJobs Phase A initiative was completed in June at all Media General newspaper Web sites. Phase B, featuring new products and capabilities, was launched at TBO.com on June 20.

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

June
2007 2006 % Change

Revenues (000) $72,460 $70,068 3.4 %
Publishing 40,546 45,109 (10.1)%
Broadcast 29,178 23,374 24.8 %
Interactive Media 3,244 2,041 58.9 %
Eliminations (508) (456) (11.4)%

Discontinued Operations(1) - 3,535 ---

Selected Publishing Revenues (000)
By Category
Advertising $33,543 $37,967 (11.7)%
Classified 14,245 17,276 (17.5)%
Retail 15,749 16,758 (6.0)%
National 3,097 3,400 (8.9)%
Other 452 533 (15.2)%
Circulation 5,775 6,063 (4.8)%
By Property
Richmond 10,325 10,899 (5.3)%
Tampa 11,404 14,716 (22.5)%
Winston-Salem 3,728 4,104 (9.2)%
Community Newspapers 14,924 15,253 (2.2)%

Advertising Revenues (000)
Richmond $8,249 $8,603 (4.1)%
Tampa 9,876 13,471 (26.7)%
Winston-Salem 2,836 3,263 (13.1)%
Community Newspapers 12,422 12,495 (0.6)%

Broadcast Time Sales (gross) (000) $29,924 $23,238 28.8 %
Local 18,811 13,870 35.6 %
National 10,774 7,156 50.6 %
Political 339 2,212 (84.7)%

Selected Online Total Page Views
Total Web Sites 52,276,345 43,353,875 20.6 %
(Excluding Game Sites)
TBO.com 17,959,735 18,380,495 (2.3)%
(Tampa, Fla.)
inRich/TimesDispatch.com 8,833,208 9,592,911 (7.9)%
(Richmond, Va.)
JournalNow.com 3,037,999 3,004,204 1.1 %
(Winston-Salem, N.C.)

Notes: All data are subject to later adjustment.
(1) Revenues from certain broadcast and interactive media operations that
the Company divested in 2006.

MEDIA GENERAL INC.
Revenues and Page Views

Year-to-Date
2007 2006 % Change

Revenues (000) $471,542 $447,501 5.4 %
Publishing 276,123 299,014 (7.7)%
Broadcast 181,373 138,931 30.5 %
Interactive Media 17,457 12,716 37.3 %
Eliminations (3,411) (3,160) (7.9)%

Discontinued Operations(1) - 20,219 ---

Selected Publishing Revenues (000)
By Category
Advertising $228,475 $250,580 (8.8)%
Classified 97,357 114,807 (15.2)%
Retail 108,309 111,164 (2.6)%
National 19,778 20,950 (5.6)%
Other 3,031 3,659 (17.2)%
Circulation 39,686 41,454 (4.3)%
By Property
Richmond 68,372 70,158 (2.5)%
Tampa 84,175 101,196 (16.8)%
Winston-Salem 25,399 26,793 (5.2)%
Community Newspapers 97,186 99,863 (2.7)%

Advertising Revenues (000)
Richmond $54,513 $55,169 (1.2)%
Tampa 73,236 91,609 (20.1)%
Winston-Salem 20,013 21,436 (6.6)%
Community Newspapers 79,813 81,404 (2.0)%

Broadcast Time Sales (gross) (000) $188,520 $140,319 34.4 %
Local 117,614 89,151 31.9 %
National 69,194 46,886 47.6 %
Political 1,712 4,282 (60.0)%

Selected Online Total Page Views
Total Web Sites 345,248,520 271,814,250 27.0 %
(Excluding Game Sites)
TBO.com 106,656,784 98,352,844 8.4 %
(Tampa, Fla.)
inRich/TimesDispatch.com 63,546,116 68,370,435 (7.1)%
(Richmond, Va.)
JournalNow.com 22,779,676 21,800,608 4.5 %
(Winston-Salem, N.C.)

Notes: All data are subject to later adjustment.
(1) Revenues from certain broadcast and interactive media operations that
the Company divested in 2006.

MEDIA GENERAL, INC.

Daily Newspapers Advertising Linage*

June
2007 2006 % Change
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Retail 26,756 30,516 (12.3)%
National 8,147 9,837 (17.2)%
Classified 64,948 65,696 (1.1)%
Total 99,851 106,049 (5.8)%
Tampa Tribune
Retail 32,415 38,860 (16.6)%
National 9,092 12,541 (27.5)%
Classified 86,459 123,103 (29.8)%
Total 127,966 174,504 (26.7)%
Winston-Salem Journal
Retail 22,954 33,623 (31.7)%
National 7,988 6,851 16.6 %
Classified 48,543 54,504 (10.9)%
Total 79,485 94,978 (16.3)%
Community Dailies
Retail 303,452 319,957 (5.2)%
National 16,054 22,634 (29.1)%
Classified 417,340 427,197 (2.3)%
Total 736,846 769,788 (4.3)%
Media General Dailies Total
Retail 385,577 422,956 (8.8)%
National 41,281 51,863 (20.4)%
Classified 617,290 670,500 (7.9)%
Total 1,044,148 1,145,319 (8.8)%

* Advertising is in column inches - full run only

MEDIA GENERAL, INC.

Daily Newspapers Advertising Linage*

Year-to-Date
2007 2006 % Change
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Retail 182,251 191,751 (5.0)%
National 55,435 59,258 (6.5)%
Classified 413,416 440,100 (6.1)%
Total 651,102 691,109 (5.8)%
Tampa Tribune
Retail 260,837 272,145 (4.2)%
National 58,534 80,189 (27.0)%
Classified 584,454 859,498 (32.0)%
Total 903,825 1,211,832 (25.4)%
Winston-Salem Journal
Retail 177,984 220,079 (19.1)%
National 46,656 49,179 (5.1)%
Classified 301,045 347,942 (13.5)%
Total 525,685 617,200 (14.8)%
Community Dailies
Retail 1,963,858 2,042,828 (3.9)%
National 115,287 123,823 (6.9)%
Classified 2,566,975 2,721,332 (5.7)%
Total 4,646,120 4,887,983 (4.9)%
Media General Dailies Total
Retail 2,584,930 2,726,803 (5.2)%
National 275,912 312,449 (11.7)%
Classified 3,865,890 4,368,872 (11.5)%
Total 6,726,732 7,408,124 (9.2)%