FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 18, 2003

Media General Reports August Revenues, Updates Third Quarter Earnings Guidance

RICHMOND, Va. – Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG) today reported August 2003 total revenues of $66 million, up 4.7 percent, compared with revenues of $63 million in August 2002. Publishing revenues increased 2.9 percent, Broadcast revenues rose 7.2 percent, and Interactive Media revenues were up 31.6 percent.

“We were pleased with our overall revenue growth in August,” said J. Stewart Bryan III, chairman and chief executive officer. “For our publishing business, August represented the third month in a row of solid year-over-year revenue gains. While the retail category remained weak overall, the Richmond Times-Dispatch has begun to benefit from the opening of two upscale shopping malls here this month.

“The Broadcast Division had an excellent month. WFLA, our NBC affiliate in Tampa, Fla., obtained the rights to air Tampa Bay Buccaneer pre-season football games, and advertising revenues were strong in several categories, especially automotive. Revenue pacing activity appears to have strengthened over the last few weeks,” said Bryan.

Newspaper advertising revenues increased $970,000, or 3 percent, in August. Classified revenue was above last year by $470,000, or 3.6 percent. Employment linage at the company’s three largest newspapers was 23.3 percent above last year and was partially offset by automotive linage that was below last year by 1.7 percent. Employment advertising improved in Tampa for the third month in a row and exceeded last year by 18.2 percent. Tampa’s gains principally resulted from selling more multi-part packages. Linage declines at the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Winston-Salem Journal were smaller than previous months, 0.7 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.

Retail revenue decreased $300,000, or 3 percent, from last August. Most of the softness occurred in the Winston-Salem and community newspaper markets. Soft advertising schedules from major advertisers, particularly department stores, continue to have an unfavorable impact on the retail category. Preprint revenue, which has shown the strongest growth this year, increased $340,000, or 5.9 percent.

National advertising revenue, which has shown solid improvement since April, was ahead of last August by $495,000, or 24.8 percent, primarily the result of strong telecommunications and financial advertising at The Tampa Tribune. The Richmond Times-Dispatch also benefited from increased telecommunications advertising. Circulation revenue increased $140,000, or 2.1 percent, over last year.

Broadcast gross time sales increased $1.8 million, or 8.5 percent. Local time sales increased $2.5 million, or 21.1 percent. National time sales increased $680,000, or 8.9 percent. Political revenues of $850,000 compared with $2.2 million last year and were higher than expected, reflecting issue advertising for Alabama tax referendums and the Louisiana gubernatorial race.

Time sales included approximately $2 million from WFLA’s airing of three Tampa Bay Buccaneer pre-season games. In addition, automotive spending was robust, particularly in the local category, as dealers cleared existing inventory and began to introduce 2004 models. Several other broadcast categories showed overall strength in August, including fast food, entertainment, financial, furniture and telecommunications.

Interactive Media revenue growth continues to reflect the company’s success with classified up-sells from its newspapers and from new online products and services.

Outlook
Media General anticipates that its third-quarter earnings per share, excluding the effect of a previously announced accounting standard adoption, will be within the range of current analyst estimates of 44 cents to 52 cents. Performance within the upper half of the range is possible, depending upon the degree of implementation of a $50-per-ton newsprint price increase that was announced by SP Newsprint on August 1, as well as the continued signs of recovery in advertising revenue for the company’s publishing and broadcast businesses.

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 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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