FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 24, 2001

Media General Reports April Revenues

RICHMOND, Va. — Media General (AMEX: MEG.A) today reported total revenues for April 2001 of $80 million, down less than 1 percent from $80.6 million in April 2000. Excluding the impact of newspaper acquisitions and divestitures, revenues declined 6 percent.

Publishing revenues for April 2001 exceeded the prior year by 1.2 percent. Excluding acquisitions and divestitures, the division's revenues were down 6.7 percent.

Broadcast revenues decreased 4.9 percent in April, the first month that includes results in both 2001 and 2000 from the 13 television stations the company acquired in late March of 2000.

Interactive Media revenues were $932,000, up 23.6 percent from $754,000 in April 2000.

Excluding acquisitions and divestitures, newspaper advertising revenues declined from April 2000 in all categories except national, which rose almost 6 percent. Classified decreased 13.9 percent, primarily because of significant reductions in employment advertising. Retail fell 6.6 percent, and preprint revenue declined 5.7 percent. Circulation revenue was approximately flat.

Gross television time sales declined 7.1 percent from the same month last year due to a continuing weakness in national advertising from automotive and telecommunications customers. The 16.6 percent decrease in national time sales overshadowed a small increase in local time sales.

"Overall, our April revenues were in line with our reduced expectations and a little better than the industry average," said J. Stewart Bryan III, Media General's chairman and chief executive. "The slump in national advertising that has devastated big-city dailies has been less pronounced in our midsize and smaller newspaper markets. Also, the local sales initiatives in our Broadcast Division have been among the most successful in the industry. Our extra efforts on the revenue side – coupled with careful management on the expense side – will help Media General navigate through this advertising downturn."

About Media General
Media General is an independent, publicly owned communications company situated primarily in the Southeast with interests in newspapers, television stations, interactive media and diversified information services. The company's publishing assets include The Tampa Tribune, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Winston-Salem Journal and 22 other daily newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina, as well as nearly 100 other periodicals and a 20 percent interest in The Denver Post. Media General's 26 network-affiliated television stations 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 extensive interactive media offerings include more than 50 online enterprises. Media General also has a 33 percent interest in SP Newsprint Co., which operates newsprint mills in Dublin, Ga., and Newberg, Ore.

Charts follow:
Revenue Report
Ad Linage Summaries

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