Media General income boosted by broadcast division

(Changes headline, adds details, CEO comment)

NEW YORK, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Newspaper and television company Media General Inc. (MEG.N) reported higher fourth-quarter net income on Wednesday, helped by strength in its broadcast division.

Net income rose to $31.6 million, or $1.33 cents per share, up 26.7 percent from $25 million, or $1.05, in the same quarter of 2005.

Income from continuing operations was $32.1 million, or $1.35 per share, compared with $23.9 million, or $1 per share, a year earlier.

In December, the company forecast earnings of $1.30 to $1.33 a share from continuing operations.

"Media General's strong profit improvement in the fourth quarter was mostly due to the outstanding performance of our Broadcast Division, bolstered by the four new NBC stations, and record political revenues of $34.3 million," Marshall Morton, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Quarterly profit from its broadcast division, including four new NBC television stations, more than doubled to $46.1 million. Even excluding the new stations, however, the division's profit increased nearly 50 percent.

The company said the division's strength offset weakness in its publishing division. Quarterly profit from the publishing division fell 10.4 percent.

For the first quarter of 2007, the company said it expects the publishing division's revenues to be flat or slightly higher year-on-year. It also forecast the broadcast division's comparable time sales to be flat or slightly higher than the previous year.

((Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, editing by Brian Moss; Reuters Messaging: ritsuko.ando.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 646 223 6084)) Keywords: MEDIAGENERAL RESULTS/

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