Journal Communications Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2004 Resul

    Business Editors

    MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2005--Journal Communications (NYSE:JRN) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 26, 2004. For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, net earnings increased 10.8% to $22.7 million compared to $20.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2003. In the fourth quarter of 2004, Journal Communications recorded a $2.2 million gain on the sale of properties, net of tax and a $0.6 million charge for voluntary terminations, net of tax. For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, revenue increased 2.7% to $215.6 million compared to $209.9 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2003. Note that the fourth quarter 2004 contained 91 days while the fourth quarter 2003 contained 94 days.
    For the full year ended December 26, 2004, net earnings of $78.5 million were up 17.5% compared to $66.8 million for the full year 2003. For the full year ended December 26, 2004, revenue of $820.8 million increased 2.8% compared to $798.3 million for the full year 2003.
    For both the fourth quarter and full year 2004, results include the operations of NorthStar Print Group, Inc., the label manufacturing subsidiary of Journal Communications, which was sold on January 25, 2005.
    "In the fourth quarter and throughout the full year 2004, Journal Communications recorded broad-based advertising growth at our television and radio stations and our daily newspaper," said Steven J. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer. "During this period we also enhanced our operating performance and expanded margins."
    Smith added, "As we move into 2005, we anticipate further margin expansion at our publishing group. At our broadcasting group, we see continued improvement at developmental markets in both radio and television and tougher comparisons at our television stations due to an off-cycle year in political and Olympics. At Norlight, we expect ongoing declines in wholesale revenue partially offset by growth in the enterprise business. Additionally, we have significantly reduced our debt and strengthened our balance sheet to allow us to pursue our acquisition strategy."

    Costs and Expenses

    For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, costs and expenses of $177.1 million were basically flat compared to $175.7 million for the fourth quarter last year. For the full year 2004, costs and expenses of $688.0 million were basically flat compared to $684.9 million for the prior year.

    Operating Earnings

    For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, operating earnings increased 12.6% to $38.5 million compared to $34.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. The increase is primarily due to a $3.6 million pre-tax gain on the sale of properties and increased revenues at our advertising-based businesses, partially offset by a $1.0 million charge for voluntary terminations. For the fourth quarter of 2004, operating earnings margin was 17.9% compared to 16.3% for the fourth quarter of 2003.
    For the full year 2004, operating earnings of $132.8 million increased 17.1% compared to $113.4 million for the prior year. Operating earnings margin for the full year 2004 was 16.2% compared to 14.2% for the full year 2003.

    Earnings per Share

    For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.31 and $0.30, respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.25 and $0.24, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2003. For the full year 2004, basic and diluted earnings per share were $1.05 and $1.01, respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.84 and $0.80, respectively, for the full year 2003.

    EBITDA

    For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, EBITDA (net earnings plus total other income and expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $50.9 million increased 8.3% compared to $47.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. For the full year 2004, EBITDA was $179.4 million, an increase of 10.7% compared to $162.0 million for the prior year.

    Operating Cash Flow

    For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, operating cash flow (cash provided by operating activities) increased 26.7% to $38.0 million compared to $30.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. For the full year 2004, operating cash flow increased 4.2% to $133.9 million compared to $128.5 million for the prior year.

    Publishing

    Publishing revenue for the quarter ended December 26, 2004, increased 1.8% to $85.9 million from $84.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. For the full year 2004, publishing revenue increased 3.4% to $327.7 million compared to $317.0 million for the prior year.
    Operating earnings from publishing for the quarter ended December 26, 2004, decreased 2.7% to $11.1 million compared to $11.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2003, due in part to a $1.0 million charge for voluntary terminations at the daily newspaper. For the full year 2004, operating earnings from publishing increased 31.7% to $43.7 million from $33.2 million for the prior year. The increase is primarily attributed to stronger advertising revenue and cost reduction initiatives at the daily newspaper as well as cost savings from the structural reorganization of our community newspapers and shoppers operations. In 2004, total newsprint cost increased $3.2 million to $43.1 million.

    Broadcasting

    Broadcasting revenue for the quarter ended December 26, 2004, increased 21.0% to $51.2 million compared to $42.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. Broadcasting operating earnings for the quarter ended December 26, 2004, increased 33.4% to $15.0 million compared to $11.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. This growth was driven by strong political advertising for both radio and television and an increase in local advertising in a number of our television and radio markets.
    For the full year 2004, broadcasting revenue increased 14.1% to $172.1 million from $150.7 million for the full year 2003. Operating earnings grew 48.6% to $44.4 million for the full year 2004 from $29.9 million for the prior year, reflecting our focus on serving audiences and advertisers in our local markets as well as strong contributions from political and Olympics advertising in the second half of the year. In 2004, Olympics revenue approximated $2.5 million and political and issue advertising for radio and television totaled $1.3 million and $12.6 million, respectively.
    For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, revenue from radio stations increased 7.0% to $23.3 million from $21.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2003. For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, operating earnings from radio stations decreased 2.8% to $5.8 million compared to $6.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2003, due in part to increased promotional expense. For the full year 2004, revenue from radio stations was $82.3 million, an increase of 5.6% compared to $77.9 million for the prior year. For the full year 2004, operating earnings from radio stations increased 18.4% to $19.8 million compared to $16.8 million for the prior year.
    For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, revenue from television stations increased 35.8% to $27.9 million, including $2.8 million from the Green Bay television operations that were acquired on October 6, 2004. This compares to revenue of $20.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2003. For the fourth quarter 2004, operating earnings from television stations increased 74.9% to $9.2 million, including $0.7 million from the Green Bay operations. This compares to operating earnings of $5.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2003.
    For the full year 2004, revenue from television stations increased 23.4% to $89.8 million, including the contribution from the Green Bay operations. This compares to revenue of $72.8 million for the prior year. For the full year 2004, operating earnings from television stations increased 87.8% to $24.6 million, including the contribution from the Green Bay operations. This compares to operating earnings of $13.1 million for the prior year.

    Telecommunications

    Revenue from telecommunications for the quarter ended December 26, 2004, decreased 6.6% to $35.9 million from $38.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. For the fourth quarter of 2004, operating earnings from telecommunications decreased 18.8% to $8.2 million compared to $10.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2003, due to service disconnections and re-pricing in the wholesale market. For the full year 2004, revenue from telecommunications of $144.0 million decreased 3.7% compared to $149.5 million for the prior year, despite a 7.0% gain in revenue in the commercial segment in 2004. For the full year 2004, operating earnings from telecommunications declined 10.7% to $34.7 million from $38.8 million for the prior year.

    Printing Services

    Revenue from printing services for the quarter ended December 26, 2004, decreased 12.2% to $19.2 million from $21.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2003, due in large part to a reduction in revenue from several computer-related customers partially offset by a gain in revenue from a number of new printing customers. For the fourth quarter 2004, printing services recorded "break-even" operations compared to operating earnings of $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2003, due to reduced sales volume and production inefficiencies. For the full year 2004, revenue from printing services decreased 11.2% to $76.3 million compared to $86.0 million for the prior year, due primarily to a reduction in revenue from our largest printing customer. For the full year 2004, printing services recorded an operating loss of $0.4 million compared to operating earnings of $3.8 million for the prior year.

    Other

    At December 26, 2004, our other segment consisted primarily of a label printing business and a direct marketing services business. For the quarter ended December 26, 2004, other revenue increased 2.2% to $23.4 million from $23.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. For the fourth quarter of 2004, other operating earnings increased to $4.3 million from $0.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2003 due to a gain on the sale of property partially offset by a charge for bad debt. For the full year 2004, other revenue increased 5.9% to $100.7 million compared to $95.1 million for the prior year. For the full year 2004, other operating earnings increased to $10.3 million from $7.7 million for the prior year.
    On January 25, 2005, our label printing business, NorthStar Print Group, Inc., was acquired by Multi-Color Corporation. The purchase price, excluding certain real estate holdings, was $27.0 million in cash. For the full year 2004, NorthStar contributed $58.6 million in revenue and $6.9 million in earnings, including a $3.1 million pre-tax gain on the sale of property.

    Shares Outstanding

    At December 26, 2004, Journal Communications had the following shares of stock issued and outstanding: 27,417,326 shares of class A common stock; 9,270,929 shares of class B-1 common stock (not including the 4,338,352 shares held by our subsidiary, The Journal Company); 35,539,783 shares of class B-2 common stock (not including the 4,338,353 shares held by The Journal Company); and 3,264,000 shares of class C common stock. The Company's class A shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Class B and class C shares are not traded on the NYSE. Under our articles of incorporation, Class B-1 shares are convertible to class A shares at the option of the holder after first offering to sell them in the "B market"; class B-2 shares are not convertible to class A shares until after the public sale restriction period ends on March 16, 2005.

    First Quarter 2005 Guidance

    For the first quarter of 2005, Journal Communications currently anticipates revenue from continuing operations to be between $178 million and $183 million and net earnings to be between $10 million and $13 million, excluding the operational results and the effect of the sale of NorthStar Print Group.

    Webcast of Conference Call

    A live webcast of the fourth quarter and full year 2004 conference call will be accessible through www.journalcommunications.com/investors and www.ccbn.com beginning at 10:00 a.m. CT this morning. An archive of the webcast will be available on these sites today through February 17. For telephone access to this morning's conference call, dial (800) 299-6183 (domestic) or (617) 801-9713 (international) at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled 10:00 a.m. CT start. The access code for the conference call is 76448083. Replays of the conference call will be available today through February 5. To hear the replay, dial (888) 286-8010 (domestic) or (617) 801-6888 (international). The access code for the replay is 46927964.

    Forward-looking Statements

    This press release contains certain forward-looking statements related to our businesses that are based on our current expectations. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, including changes in advertising demand and other economic conditions that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. Our written policy on forward-looking statements can be found on page 1 of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    About Journal Communications

    Journal Communications, Inc., headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was founded in 1882. We are a diversified media and communications company with operations in publishing, radio and television broadcasting, telecommunications and printing services. We publish the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which serves as the only major daily newspaper for the Milwaukee metropolitan area, and more than 90 community newspapers and shoppers in eight states. We own and operate 38 radio stations and seven television stations in 11 states and operate an additional television station under a local marketing agreement. Through our telecommunications segment, we own and operate a regional fiber optic network in the upper Midwest, provide integrated data communications solutions for small and mid-size businesses and offer network transmission solutions for other service providers. We also provide a wide range of commercial printing services - including printing for publications, professional journals and documentation material - as well as electronic publishing, kit assembly and fulfillment. In addition, we operate a direct marketing services business.

Journal Communications, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Earnings (dollars in thousands, except for shares and per-share amounts)

Fourth Quarter (A) (unaudited) ------------------------- 2004 2003 % Change ------------ ------------ ---------

Revenue: Publishing $85,915 $84,361 1.8 Broadcasting 51,226 42,353 21.0 Telecommunications 35,893 38,443 (6.6) Printing services 19,162 21,821 (12.2) Other 23,449 22,952 2.2 ------------ ------------ Total Revenue 215,645 209,930 2.7

Operating costs and expenses: Publishing 42,904 41,344 3.8 Broadcasting 19,434 16,580 17.2 Telecommunications 21,031 22,280 (5.6) Printing services 16,613 18,024 (7.8) Other 19,287 18,739 2.9 ------------ ------------ Total operating costs and expenses 119,269 116,967 2.0

Selling and administrative expenses 57,872 58,771 (1.5) ------------ ------------ Total operating costs and expenses and selling and administrative expenses 177,141 175,738 0.8

Operating earnings 38,504 34,192 12.6

Other income and expense: Interest income and dividends 96 223 Interest expense, net (705) (98) ------------ ------------ Total other income and expense (609) 125

Earnings before income taxes 37,895 34,317 10.4

Provision for income taxes 15,166 13,804 9.9 ------------ ------------

Net earnings $22,729 $20,513 10.8 ============ ============

Weighted average number of shares: Basic 72,210,561 81,232,227 Diluted 76,665,565 85,684,227

Earnings per share: Basic: Net earnings $0.31 $0.25 24.0

Diluted: Net earnings $0.30 $0.24 25.0

Four Quarters (B) ------------------------- 2004 2003 % Change ------------ ------------ ---------

Revenue: Publishing $327,687 $316,976 3.4 Broadcasting 172,073 150,744 14.1 Telecommunications 144,020 149,538 (3.7) Printing services 76,308 85,958 (11.2) Other 100,673 95,073 5.9 ------------ ------------ Total Revenue 820,761 798,289 2.8

Operating costs and expenses: Publishing 161,946 160,072 1.2 Broadcasting 68,832 64,698 6.4 Telecommunications 83,215 84,722 (1.8) Printing services 66,519 71,316 (6.7) Other 83,141 78,254 6.2 ------------ ------------ Total operating costs and expenses 463,653 459,062 1.0

Selling and administrative expenses 224,348 225,818 (0.7) ------------ ------------ Total operating costs and expenses and selling and administrative expenses 688,001 684,880 0.5

Operating earnings 132,760 113,409 17.1

Other income and expense: Interest income and dividends 335 442 Interest expense, net (2,280) (1,909) ------------ ------------ Total other income and expense (1,945) (1,467)

Earnings before income taxes 130,815 111,942 16.9

Provision for income taxes 52,335 45,149 15.9 ------------ ------------

Net earnings $78,480 $66,793 17.5 ============ ============

Weighted average number of shares: Basic 72,931,102 78,644,722 Diluted 77,386,552 83,096,722

Earnings per share: Basic: Net earnings $1.05 $0.84 25.0

Diluted: Net earnings $1.01 $0.80 26.3

(A) 2004 fourth quarter: September 27, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 fourth quarter: September 29, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

(B) 2004 four quarters: January 1, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 four quarters: January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

Journal Communications, Inc. Segment Information (dollars in thousands)

Fourth Quarter (A) (unaudited) ------------------------- 2004 2003 % Change ------------ ------------ --------- Revenue ------- Publishing $85,915 $84,361 1.8 Broadcasting 51,226 42,353 21.0 Telecommunications 35,893 38,443 (6.6) Printing services 19,162 21,821 (12.2) Other 23,449 22,952 2.2 ------------ ------------ $215,645 $209,930 2.7 ============ ============

Operating earnings ------------------ Publishing $11,057 $11,362 (2.7) Broadcasting 14,986 11,231 33.4 Telecommunications 8,205 10,100 (18.8) Printing services (12) 1,239 (101.0) Other 4,268 260 1541.5 ------------ ------------ $38,504 $34,192 12.6 ============ ============

Depreciation and amortization ----------------------------- Publishing $4,280 $4,064 5.3 Broadcasting 2,464 2,681 (8.1) Telecommunications 4,472 4,686 (4.6) Printing services 628 714 (12.0) Other 529 656 (19.4) ------------ ------------ $12,373 $12,801 (3.3) ============ ============

Four Quarters (B) ------------------------- 2004 2003 % Change ------------ ------------ --------- Revenue ------- Publishing $327,687 $316,976 3.4 Broadcasting 172,073 150,744 14.1 Telecommunications 144,020 149,538 (3.7) Printing services 76,308 85,958 (11.2) Other 100,673 95,073 5.9 ------------ ------------ $820,761 $798,289 2.8 ============ ============

Operating earnings ------------------ Publishing $43,708 $33,199 31.7 Broadcasting 44,404 29,879 48.6 Telecommunications 34,691 38,858 (10.7) Printing services (367) 3,760 (109.8) Other 10,324 7,713 33.9 ------------ ------------ $132,760 $113,409 17.1 ============ ============

Depreciation and amortization ----------------------------- Publishing $15,855 $16,513 (4.0) Broadcasting 8,516 8,658 (1.6) Telecommunications 17,465 17,676 (1.2) Printing services 2,381 3,162 (24.7) Other 2,410 2,613 (7.8) ------------ ------------ $46,627 $48,622 (4.1) ============ ============

(A) 2004 fourth quarter: September 27, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 fourth quarter: September 29, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

(B) 2004 four quarters: January 1, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 four quarters: January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

Journal Communications, Inc. Publishing Segment Information (unaudited) (dollars in thousands)

Publishing revenue by category: -------------------------------

Fourth Quarter of 2004 (A) -----------------------------------

Community Daily Newspapers Newspaper & Shoppers Total -----------------------------------

Advertising revenue: Retail $24,426 $14,052 $38,478 Classified 14,983 2,206 17,189 General 3,024 -- 3,024 Other 6,705 427 7,132 ------------ ------------ --------- Total advertising revenue 49,138 16,685 65,823 Circulation revenue 10,895 699 11,594 Other revenue 1,030 7,468 8,498 ------------ ------------ --------- Total revenue $61,063 $24,852 $85,915 ============ ============ =========

Fourth Quarter of 2003 (B) -----------------------------------

Community Daily Newspapers Newspaper & Shoppers Total -----------------------------------

Advertising revenue: Retail $23,241 $14,313 $37,554 Classified 14,592 2,176 16,768 General 3,091 -- 3,091 Other 5,446 412 5,858 ------------ ------------ --------- Total advertising revenue 46,370 16,901 63,271 Circulation revenue 11,425 710 12,135 Other revenue 1,484 7,471 8,955 ------------ ------------ --------- Total revenue $59,279 $25,082 $84,361 ============ ============ =========

% Change % Change % Change Daily CN&S Total ------------ ------------ ---------

Advertising revenue: Retail 5.1 (1.8) 2.5 Classified 2.7 1.4 2.5 General (2.2) - (2.2) Other 23.1 3.6 21.7 Total advertising revenue 6.0 (1.3) 4.0 Circulation revenue (4.6) (1.5) (4.5) Other revenue (30.6) (0.0) (5.1) Total revenue 3.0 (0.9) 1.8

Four Quarters of 2004 (C) -----------------------------------

Community Daily Newspapers Newspaper & Shoppers Total -----------------------------------

Advertising revenue: Retail $83,499 $55,496 $138,995 Classified 63,805 9,112 72,917 General 11,527 -- 11,527 Other 21,704 1,907 23,611 ------------ ------------ --------- Total advertising revenue 180,535 66,515 247,050 Circulation revenue 43,225 2,868 46,093 Other revenue 5,335 29,209 34,544 ------------ ------------ --------- Total revenue $229,095 $98,592 $327,687 ============ ============ =========

Four Quarters of 2003 (D) -----------------------------------

Community Daily Newspapers Newspaper & Shoppers Total -----------------------------------

Advertising revenue: Retail $80,733 $56,115 $136,848 Classified 60,658 8,676 69,334 General 10,985 -- 10,985 Other 18,190 1,975 20,165 ------------ ------------ --------- Total advertising revenue 170,566 66,766 237,332 Circulation revenue 43,903 2,863 46,766 Other revenue 5,144 27,734 32,878 ------------ ------------ --------- Total revenue $219,613 $97,363 $316,976 ============ ============ =========

% Change % Change % Change Daily CN&S Total ------------ ------------ ---------

Advertising revenue: Retail 3.4 (1.1) 1.6 Classified 5.2 5.0 5.2 General 4.9 - 4.9 Other 19.3 (3.4) 17.1 Total advertising revenue 5.8 (0.4) 4.1 Circulation revenue (1.5) 0.2 (1.4) Other revenue 3.7 5.3 5.1 Total revenue 4.3 1.3 3.4

(A) 2004 fourth quarter: September 27, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 fourth quarter: September 29, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

(B) 2004 four quarters: January 1, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 four quarters: January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

NOTE: Publishing segment information is provided to facilitate comparison of our publishing segment results with those of other publishing companies and is not representative of the overall business of Journal Communications or its operating results.

Journal Communications, Inc. Publishing Segment Information (unaudited)

Daily newspaper's core newspaper advertising linage by category: ------------------------------------------------------------

Fourth Quarter (A) ------------------------- 2004 2003 % Change ------------ ------------ --------- Advertising linage (inches):

Full run Retail 199,165 202,093 (1.4) Classified 200,494 211,261 (5.1) General 14,072 14,759 (4.7) ------------ ------------ Total full run 413,731 428,113 (3.4) Part run 50,654 38,832 30.4 ------------ ------------ Total advertising linage 464,385 466,945 (0.5) ============ ============

Preprint pieces (in thousands) 234,057 225,815 3.6 ============ ============

Full pages of advertising and revenue per page of our community newspapers and shoppers: ------------------------------------------------------------

Full pages of advertising: Community newspapers 25,200 26,896 (6.3) Shoppers and specialty products 27,422 29,296 (6.4) ------------ ------------ Total full pages of advertising 52,622 56,192 (6.4) ============ ============

Revenue per page $281.27 $266.80 5.4 ============ ============

Daily newspaper's core newspaper advertising linage by category: ------------------------------------------------------------

Four Quarters (B) ------------------------- 2004 2003 % Change ------------ ------------ --------- Advertising linage (inches):

Full run Retail 724,220 724,116 0.0 Classified 850,820 877,715 (3.1) General 54,213 51,521 5.2 ------------ ------------ Total full run 1,629,253 1,653,352 (1.5) Part run 172,125 124,937 37.8 ------------ ------------ Total advertising linage 1,801,378 1,778,289 1.3 ============ ============

Preprint pieces (in thousands) 800,700 834,587 (4.1) ============ ============

Full pages of advertising and revenue per page of our community newspapers and shoppers: ------------------------------------------------------------

Full pages of advertising: Community newspapers 100,156 109,114 (8.2) Shoppers and specialty products 108,979 114,554 (4.9) ------------ ------------ Total full pages of advertising 209,135 223,668 (6.5) ============ ============

Revenue per page $282.96 $264.54 7.0 ============ ============

(A) 2004 fourth quarter: September 27, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 fourth quarter: September 29, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

(B) 2004 four quarters: January 1, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 four quarters: January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

NOTE: Publishing segment information is provided to facilitate comparison of our publishing segment results with those of other publishing companies and is not representative of the overall business of Journal Communications or its operating results.

Journal Communications, Inc. Reconciliation of our consolidated net earnings to consolidated EBITDA (dollars in thousands)

Fourth Quarter (A) Four Quarters (B) (unaudited) --------------------------------------- 2004 2003 2004 2003 --------- --------- --------- ---------

Net earnings $22,729 $20,513 $78,480 $66,793 Total other (income) and expense 609 (125) 1,945 1,467 Provision for income taxes 15,166 13,804 52,335 45,149 Depreciation 12,082 11,797 45,231 46,381 Amortization 291 1,004 1,396 2,241 --------- --------- --------- --------- EBITDA $50,877 $46,993 $179,387 $162,031 ========= ========= ========= =========

(A) 2004 fourth quarter: September 27, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 fourth quarter: September 29, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

(B) 2004 four quarters: January 1, 2004 to December 26, 2004. 2003 four quarters: January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003.

We believe that EBITDA is relevant and useful because it helps improve our investors' ability to understand our operating performance and makes it easier to compare our results with other companies that have different financing and capital structures or tax rates. We use EBITDA, among other things, to evaluate our operating performance, to value prospective acquisitions and as a component of incentive compensation targets for certain management personnel. Our lenders use EBITDA as one of the measures of our ability to service our debt. EBITDA is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, net earnings as an indicator of operating performance or cash flows measures from operating performance as a measure of liquidity. EBITDA, as we calculate it, may not be comparable to EBITDA reported by other companies. In addition, EBITDA does not represent funds available for discretionary use.

Journal Communications, Inc. Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheet (dollars in thousands)

December 26, December 31, 2004 2003 --------------- -------------- ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $6,375 $8,444 Receivables, net 94,725 89,526 Inventories, net 16,998 15,216 Prepaid expenses 13,390 13,236 Deferred income taxes 9,446 8,948 Investment in preferred stock 4,394 - --------------- --------------- Total current assets $145,328 $135,370 Property and equipment, net 303,566 314,595 Goodwill 138,648 114,283 Broadcast licenses 140,046 129,548 Other intangible assets, net 14,753 9,900 Prepaid pension costs 24,156 28,421 Other assets 8,565 15,058 --------------- --------------- Total assets $775,062 $747,175 =============== ===============

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $42,005 $38,369 Accrued compensation 24,025 23,346 Accrued employee benefits 10,872 9,830 Deferred revenue 20,536 22,590 Other current liabilities 13,554 13,049 Current portion of long-term liabilities 3,600 2,164 --------------- --------------- Total current liabilities $114,592 $109,348 Accrued employee benefits 17,839 17,815 Long-term notes payable to banks 70,310 84,000 Deferred income taxes 66,143 56,477 Other long term liabilities 16,683 15,785 Shareholders' equity 489,495 463,750 --------------- --------------- Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $775,062 $747,175 =============== ===============

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CONTACT: Journal Communications, Inc. Sara Leuchter Wilkins (Investor Relations), 414-224-2633 swilkins@journalcommunications.com

KEYWORD: WISCONSIN INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ADVERTISING/MARKETING PUBLISHING EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALLS SOURCE: Journal Communications, Inc.

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