FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2002

Media General Reports January Revenues

RICHMOND, Va. — Media General (NYSE: MEG) today reported revenues of $66.6 million for January 2002, down 6.8 percent from January 2001.

Publishing revenues decreased 9.9 percent from January of last year. While total broadcast revenues were flat, advertising time sales increased 4.1 percent. Interactive media revenues were up 19.3 percent.

In the Publishing Division, classified revenues declined 15.9 percent from January 2001, primarily due to weak employment advertising. Help-wanted linage was down 56 percent at the Winston-Salem Journal, 40 percent at the Richmond Times-Dispatch and 45 percent at The Tampa Tribune.

Retail revenues were down 7.9 percent across the division as advertisers continued to hold back in some markets. National advertising sales decreased 12.8 percent, primarily due to shortfalls at the company's three metropolitan dailies. Preprint revenues declined less than 1 percent as a strong performance by the Richmond Times-Dispatch nearly offset shortfalls at several other dailies. Circulation revenues were down 8.8 percent, with most of that decrease coming from the change to independent carriers in Tampa.

In the Broadcast Division, local advertising was up 2.4 percent, while national advertising increased 6.5 percent. Much of this improvement came from the front end of Olympic advertising packages at the company's NBC affiliates. Increases in time sales were partially offset by lower revenues from Professional Communications Systems, a subsidiary that sells and installs broadcast equipment.

In the Interactive Media Division, the implementation of a classified up-sell model with several of the company's daily newspapers continued to generate new revenues. Traffic on Media General Web sites also showed strong increases.

About Media General
Media General is an independent 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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