FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

RICHMOND , Va. – Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG) today reported May 2004 revenues for the four weeks ended May 30, 2004, of $70.5 million, an increase of 7.1 percent, compared with revenues of $65.8 million for the four weeks ended June 1, 2003. Publishing revenues increased 4.8 percent, Broadcast revenues rose 10.2 percent, and Interactive Media revenues were up 52.3 percent.

“While political advertising at our broadcast television stations and newspaper classified advertising continued their strong growth trends, May revenues in other categories were slightly lower than expected,” said J. Stewart Bryan III, chairman and chief executive.“ In Publishing, we experienced another solid month for help-wanted advertising, but growth in the Retail and Preprint categories did not meet our targets, and National advertising continued to be soft. An increase in local time sales in Broadcast more than offset a decline in National time sales,” Bryan said.

Publishing Division advertising revenues increased by $1.8 million, or 5.2 percent, from the same period last year. If print and online publishing revenues were combined, publishing total revenues and newspaper advertising revenues for May were up5.3 percent and 6 percent, respectively, from 2003.

Classified revenues increased $1.2 million, or 9 percent. The Tampa Tribune and the Richmond Times-Dispatch realized classified increases of 8.7 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, driven primarily by gains in employment linage. The Winston-Salem Journal was 1.8 percent below last year. May employment linage at the three metropolitan newspapers was 20.7 percent higher than last year. Employment linage at The Tampa Tribune was up 23.3 percent, the Richmond Times-Dispatch increased 21.6 percent, and the Winston-Salem Journal experienced a 13.7 percent increase. Higher employment linage offset the impact of automotive linage that was down 2.4 percent at the metro newspapers from 2003.

Retail revenues, which had been below last year in all months in 2004 except March, increased by $340,000, or 3.4 percent, due to strength in the Tampa, Winston-Salem and community newspaper markets, partially offset by weakness in Richmond. Tampa reported solid education, automotive, medical and sporting goods advertising, while Winston-Salem’s results were driven by new drug store advertising. Retail revenues in Richmond were below the prior year due to reduced advertising by a major department store and several drug stores.

Preprint revenues were above last year by $100,000, or 1.6 percent, principally reflecting a rate increase and growth in several community markets. On a combined basis, retail ROP and retail preprint revenues increased from 2003 by $560,000, or 3.6 percent.

National revenues were down $185,000, or 6.8 percent from last year, due to weakness in Richmond and Winston-Salem. Circulation revenues increased $270,000, or 4.1 percent, and reflected a home delivery rate increase at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in October 2003 and a good circulation gain at The Tampa Tribune compared to 2003.

Broadcast gross time sales increased by $2.7 million, or 11.3 percent. The improvement was generated by presidential and senatorial campaign spending and increased local transactional sales.

Local time sales increased $1.2 million, or 8 percent, led by increases in the automotive, telecommunications and services categories. National time sales declined $150,000, or 1.7 percent, largely due to decreases in the medical, entertainment and department store categories, which more than offset gains in automotive and telecommunications advertising.

Political revenues of $2 million compared with $320,000 in 2003, reflecting presidential campaign spending in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Iowa; U.S. Senate primary spending in South Carolina and Georgia, and issue advertising in Florida and Alabama.

Interactive Media Division revenuesincreased 52.3 percent to $1.1 million. The performance reflected a nearly 60 percent increase in classified advertising, as well as strong growth in thelocal and national/regional advertising categories.

Outlook
Media General’s most recent guidance for the second quarter, provided on April 15, 2004, was that the company expected earnings per share to be at the low end of a range of analyst estimates of 85-90 cents per share. Media General now expects earnings per share for the second quarter of 2004 to be below 85 cents per share, although it is difficult to be more precise at this time without more visibility on the month of June. Media General earned 75 cents in the 2003 second quarter. Having the greatest impact on these lowered expectations is a reduction in anticipated equity earnings from SP Newsprint because newsprint price increases have not materialized to the degree previously anticipated. In addition, while Media General has seen solid year-over-year gains in advertising revenues, growth has not been as strong as anticipated in certain categories. Lower than expected revenues will be partially offset by cost containment initiatives.

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.

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 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.

Investor Contact:
Lou Anne Nabhan
(804) 649-6103

Media Contact:
Ray Kozakewicz
(804) 649-6748

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