FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Media General Presents at Credit Suisse First Boston Media & Telecom Conference

RICHMOND, Va. — Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG) executives today updated investors on the company’s strategy, current business conditions and outlook for 2004 at the Credit Suisse First Boston Media & Telecom Conference in New York.

J. Stewart Bryan III, chairman and chief executive officer, provided an overview of the company’s strategy for building shareholder value and reviewed key accomplishments for the year 2003. Media General is a multimedia company with excellent local journalism as its core strength. Bryan described the company’s continuing regional focus in the southeastern United States, where growth has been much stronger than the national average. He also discussed the company’s successes and strategies for clustering and convergence.

Bryan said, “The year got off to a slow start, with an ongoing weak economy and the war with Iraq. By early summer, however, momentum began to build. Since that time, our Publishing Division has performed at or near the top of its peer group in revenue growth,” he said.

In Broadcasting, he described several local and national sales initiatives that helped make up for the virtual absence of political revenues compared to 2002. “Through aggressive local sales initiatives, we generated $10 million in new revenues. We also increased national revenues by $1.5 million,” he said.

The Interactive Media Division’s revenues have increased by more than 50 percent, he said. Also, this year the company sold Media General Financial Services and its interest in Hoover’s.

Commenting on the FCC’s cross-ownership rules, Bryan said, “We were generally pleased with the Commission’s announcement in June that the common ownership of a television station and a newspaper should be allowed wherever there were four or more television stations in a market.” He said the FCC looked at “real-world” experience of companies like Media General, and agreed that common ownership enhances localism and results in better local television news.

“At Media General, we know that better local news will translate to better ratings—and so, to increased revenue. Therefore, the FCC’s ruling opening up 90 percent of the Southeast’s markets to common ownership is a very positive development.”

He said, “At the same time, though, we have appealed the FCC’s decision because we believe that all communities, large and small, should be allowed to realize the benefits of common ownership. That issue, and all of the rest of the FCC’s June decision, is now on appeal to the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. Because of the strong record before the court, we don’t think we’ll see a result that’s any worse than the 90 percent win our industry achieved before the Commission. A ruling is anticipated sometime in the summer of 2004,” Bryan said.

Reid Ashe, president and chief operating officer, provided an overview of the 2003 performance to date of the company’s three operating divisions, Publishing, Broadcast and Interactive Media.

He reviewed individual publishing revenue categories, noting that classified had one of its best months in October, finishing 5 percent over 2002. Employment advertising has begun to show year-over-year gains; automotive classified is even with or slightly below last year, and real estate and other categories are strong. Preprint revenue has consistently seen double-digit gains.

“National advertising has also been very strong. In October, revenue was above last year by more than 15 percent,” Ashe said.

The Publishing Division also posted a strong November, and December promises more of the same. Ashe said, "Total revenues were up 5.1 %. Ad revenues beat last year by 6.2%, our largest year-over-year gain so far this year."

He said that circulation saw solid growth in 2003 and the company is performing better than the industry average, which for the most part, showed declines for the March and September Audit Bureau of Circulation FAS-FAX reports.

According to Ashe, an aggressive cost cutting program implemented in February reduced second-quarter expenses by 4.1 percent, compared to budget. “We maintained this performance against budget in the third quarter and expect to do so again in the fourth quarter.”

In the Broadcast business, projected annual total-time sales revenues for Media General are up 14 percent compared to 9 percent for the industry, when comparing 2003 to 2001, the last political off-year. “We think this is a more meaningful comparison than against 2002, because Media General stations benefited much more than their peers in last year’s hot political season. It’s obvious that local sales are driving our success. We expect to finish the year up 14 percent in local compared with the industry’s 8 percent,” Ashe said.

The division also implemented an expense savings plan, including temporary hiring freezes and restrained departmental spending.

In the Interactive Media Division, there has been strong double-digit growth every month this year. “In October, we passed the $1 million monthly-revenue mark for the first time since the division was launched on January 1, 2001,” he said. Classified advertising at 65 percent of the total continues to compose the largest share of online revenues.

Ashe said, “In summary, we believe all three of our divisions are well positioned to continue to grow audience share, generate new revenues, and increase profitability over the long term.”

Financial Outlook

Marshall N. Morton, vice chairman and chief financial officer, presented the company’s outlook for 2004 and updated investors on the company’s financial position. Morton reaffirmed the earnings guidance provided by Media General on November 19, 2003. For the fourth quarter of 2003, the company expects earnings per share from continuing operations to be in the range of 93 cents to 96 cents. For the full-year, the company expects earnings per share from continuing operations to be in the range of $2.44 to $2.47. The full-year amounts do not include 4 cents per share from Media General Financial Services prior to its sale, nor a gain of approximately 29 cents per share on that sale that will be recorded in the fourth quarter. Nor do they include a charge of 34 cents per share, related to the adoption of FIN 46, which was recorded in the third quarter. Media General will announce fourth-quarter results on January 28, 2004.

Morton provided the following forecasts for the year 2004, compared to 2003.

Classified revenue is expected to increase 4-6 percent. Retail and preprint revenues are forecast to increase 2-4 percent and national revenue is expected to rise 7-9 percent. Salaries and benefits also will increase, reflecting merit increases and increased retirement and health care costs. For 2004, one $50-metric ton price increase for newsprint expense is budgeted. Including this forecast and price increases already in effect, newsprint expenses are budgeted to rise 15-17 percent in 2004.

“Total newspaper advertising revenue is expected to increase 4-5 percent. We expect circulation revenue to grow 3-5 percent as we continue to build off gains realized this year and from rate increases. We are budgeting total revenue to increase by 4-5 percent, which would represent our largest gain since 1998, excluding acquisitions,” Morton said. Publishing segment profits, which include the company’s 20-percent ownership of The Denver Post, are forecast to increase about 1-3 percent.

In the Broadcast Division, strong revenue growth of 11-12 percent is expected in 2004 from the return of political and Olympics advertising revenue. “Political revenues are expected to be $19.3 million next year. Our view is that 2004 will mirror 2000, the last presidential election year.” Sales targets include an 8-9 percent growth in local billings and 5-6 percent in national billings. Programming costs will increase by about 5 percent for the addition of new syndicated shows. Payroll costs are expected to increase 7-8 percent, and benefits approximately 10 percent. Total Broadcast expenses are budgeted to increase about 5 percent. “Broadcast segment operating profit is forecast to increase by approximately 35 percent,” Morton said.

Interactive Media Division’s revenues in 2004 are expected to exceed $13 million, a 40-percent increase over 2003. According to Morton, the growth is expected from classified upsells, vertical products and Boxerjam, the division’s gaming unit. “The division will continue to carefully manage expenses, while investing at levels that fuel long-term growth,” Morton said. Expenses are forecast to increase in 2004 by 18 percent, mostly for additional staff and technology. The operating cash deficit should be in the range of $4-5 million.

Media General gave the following estimates for unallocated consolidated items:

Morton noted that a 5-percent decrease in interest expense in 2004 is due to a lower all-in interest rate and declining debt levels. A 12-percent increase in corporate expense is mainly due to higher employee benefit expense, a full year of VIE depreciation and information technology enhancements. SP Newsprint’s earnings are expected to rise by $12 million, primarily the result of newsprint price increases.

Capital spending in 2004 is expected to be about $75 million. Spending plans for 2003 originally totaled $62 million, but after several deferrals the forecast is now about $35 million. In 2004, Publishing will spend about $48 million, including investments for new printing facilities. Broadcast plans to spend $22 million, and Interactive Media about $2 million, with corporate expenditures budgeted at $3 million.

The company’s debt is approximately $650 million, constituting 37 percent of total capital.

The company expects earnings per share for the year 2004 to be in the range of $3.12 to $3.17 and net income in the range of $74-75 million. EBITDA is expected to be about $207- $210 million, after-tax cash flow about $132-134 million and free cash flow about $57- $59 million.

Bryan summarized Media General’s outlook. Catalysts include an improved advertising outlook, favorable cost trends, higher newsprint pricing as it relates to the company’s one-third ownership of SP Newsprint, and the new FCC rules. Strong fundamentals include the company’s leadership in the Southeast, three complementary distribution channels—newspapers, television and the Internet and a proven ability to maximize assets across multiple markets and media. “We have the financial flexibility to pursue value-creating transactions. Finally, we are committed to building shareholder value,” he concluded.

A full text and slides from the presentation are available in the Investor Relations section of Media General’s Web site, www.mediageneral.com. An audio replay will be available at approximately 10 a.m. on Thursday, December 11, 2003 and will remain available for 30 days. Click on the link on the Media General Home Page.

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.

Media General continues to provide the non-GAAP financial metrics EBITDA, After-Tax Cash Flow, and Free Cash Flow. The company believes these metrics are useful for evaluating financial performance and are common alternative measures used by investors, financial analysts and rating agencies. These groups use EBITDA, along with other measures, to evaluate a company’s ability to meet its debt service requirements and to estimate the value of the company. A reconciliation of these metrics to amounts on the GAAP statements is embedded in the presentation.

About Media General
Media General is an independent communications company situated primarily in the Southeast with interests in newspapers, television stations and interactive media. 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.