Television and newspaper are two of the more challenged sectors of the United States economy these days, and Media General is in both of them. As such, it saw serious dilution of its value per diluted share, although the damage isn’t as severe when discontinued operations are excluded from the bottom line. Overall losses amounted to 91 cents PDS, but were only 44 cents PDS when restricted to going concerns. Newspaper, and particurly the Tampa market, were given the blame for much of the trouble. Television was boosted by a gain of over 4M in Q1 political income, "…partially offsetting lower local and national transactional time sales." Weakness in automotive, entertainment and furniture were fingered for television’s woes, which translated to a 1.2% decrease in revenue. By the time all sales of televison properties are completed, MG expects to bring in 105M, and will reduce debt by 60M-65M.
