Daily Press Media Group Announces Production Agreement With Media General

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. and RICHMOND, Va., May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Daily Press Media Group (DPMG) and Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG) today announced that they have reached a production agreement for Media General's Operations & Distribution Solutions Group to print and package DPMG's three newspapers, the Daily Press, The Virginia Gazette, and Tidewater Review at Media General's production facility in Hanover County, Virginia.

"The decision to move our printing and packaging operations will enable us to focus our efforts entirely on community journalism and marketing, reaching consumers through the media channel that suits them best—in print, online, or via their mobile device," said Digby Solomon, DPMG's President, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer.

Media General's plant is a state of the art facility providing cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities. The facility currently prints The Richmond Times-Dispatch, The (Charlottesville, Va.) Daily Progress, and several other daily and weekly newspapers.  The facility will print all editions of DPMG's three newspapers.  The agreement will result in the elimination of positions in DPMG's printing and packaging division; the company will provide severance and outplacement assistance to displaced employees.

This agreement does not impact the management of delivery operations.  DPMG contractors and employees will continue to lead the company's delivery and customer service operations.  The Daily Press will also continue delivering other newspapers sold in its market area, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Virginian-Pilot, and Media General's Richmond Times-Dispatch.

"The Daily Press continues to be a profitable and thriving business in its 116th year, in part because our employees are constantly innovating to ensure we serve clients across all of our media platforms," said Solomon.  "The consolidation of printing and packaging operations is picking up momentum across the industry.  In the end, we decided that moving these operations to Media General's Hanover plant makes good business sense."

The production agreement builds upon an existing business relationship between the Daily Press and Media General's Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper.  For two years, each newspaper has distributed the other in areas outside its core circulation region. The arrangement has allowed both newspapers to reduce costs while providing better delivery service.

"This agreement positions us to better serve our readers, users, advertisers, and communities," said Solomon.  "Ultimately, it will enable us to invest more money in new digital and targeted print opportunities to continue growing our business."

Sam Hightower, vice president of operations-manager of the Hanover production facility, said, "We are very pleased to add the Daily Press to our printing operations and expand our relationship with our valued colleagues at the Daily Press. We have worked closely with the management team at the Daily Press to develop a production plan that ensures we can provide their readers with the highest quality printed product, and we will do so  in the most cost-effective and efficient manner."

The Daily Press Media Group (DPMG) publishes the Daily Press, Virginia Gazette, Tidewater Review, Williamsburg Magazine, hosts a variety of web sites covering Hampton Roads including dp.com, inside tidewater, savvyshopper.com, hrvarsity, and is affiliated with cars.com and careerbuilder.

TRIBUNE is one of the country's leading multimedia companies, operating businesses in broadcasting, publishing, and interactive. The company's broadcasting group owns or operates 23 television stations, WGN America on national cable and Chicago's WGN-AM.  In publishing, Tribune's leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and Daily Press. Popular news and information websites complement Tribune's print and broadcast properties and extend the company's nationwide audience.

Media General's Operations & Distribution Solutions Group was formed in 2009 to manage the company's production and distribution operations across all markets in order to maximize utilization of its production and distribution assets in the Southeast.  Media General operates 10 strategically located print facilities in the Southeast. In addition to printing its own newspapers, the company provides printing and delivery services for more than 170 other newspapers and specialty products. For more information, visit www.mgprintanddeliver.com

Media General is a leading provider of news, information and entertainment across multiple media platforms, serving consumers and advertisers in strong local markets, primarily in the Southeastern United States. The company is transforming itself over time to a digital media model, while continuing to effectively manage its larger, cash producing broadcast television and print platforms. Media General's operations are organized in five geographic market segments and a sixth segment that includes the company's interactive advertising services and certain other operations. The company's operations include 18 network-affiliated television stations and their associated websites and 23 newspapers and their associated websites. Media General operates three digital media advertising services companies:  Blockdot, a specialty digital agency; DealTaker.com, a shopping website; and NetInformer, a wireless marketing services provider.

SOURCE The Daily Press Media Group (DPMG)