Young Broadcasting Station Group Operating Income Increases 41% in First Quarter

Business Wire,  May 6, 2008  

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NEW YORK -- Young Broadcasting Inc. ("YBI" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:YBTVA) today announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008. The Company, which previously disclosed a strategic cost reduction program, saw its operating income increase 41% over the first quarter of 2008 resulting in a 4.6% increase in station operating performance over the prior year first quarter.

Young Broadcasting unveiled a streamlining of operations plan in February that will save the Company an estimated $15 million on an annualized basis and approximately $13 million during the remainder of 2008. Because most of these savings were implemented late in the first quarter of 2008, the positive impact of the plan will be felt in the last nine months of the year. The Company incurred one-time severance costs during the quarter of $750,000 in connection with these savings. The implementation of the expense reduction initiative followed the Company's announcement in January of the hiring of Moelis & Company to sell its San Francisco station, KRON-TV. The Company continues to pursue this process with interested parties.

Despite a challenging advertising environment coupled with a weakening economy, Young Broadcasting's net revenue for the first quarter was down a modest 1.8%. Net revenue for the quarter was $35.0 million as compared to $35.6 million in the same period the prior year. Counterbalancing the generally weak advertising market and the economy were the Company's continued emphasis on revenue enhancement at the local level and a major gain in political revenues. Political revenue for the quarter totaled $1.8 million, up significantly from $497,000 in the first quarter of 2007. Corporate expenses were flat year to year and operating expenses were $29.6 million, a decrease of 3.8%, as compared to $30.8 million in the same year earlier quarter.

Vincent Young, Chairman of Young Broadcasting Inc. stated, "Our results for the quarter were superior to other companies in broadcasting. We believe the Company's financial performance is turning the corner based on our stringent cost reduction and revenue enhancement programs." He added, "We anticipate benefiting from increased political revenue later this year and retransmission fees in future periods. Political revenue is already contributing significantly to our bottom line and we are still only in the primary portion of the presidential race. Our cable retransmission negotiations are proceeding in a direction which also makes us optimistic about our Company's future."

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

Station operating performance ("SOP") is not a financial measure calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the United States. The Company defines SOP as operating income, plus non-cash compensation to employees, corporate overhead, depreciation and amortization. The Company believes that SOP is useful information for investors because it enables them to assess the Company's television stations' performance in a manner similar to the method used by management and it provides a measure that can be used to analyze, value and compare companies in the television industry. A limitation of this measure, however, is that it excludes depreciation and amortization, which represent the periodic costs of capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in the Company's business. It also excludes the cost of corporate overhead required to manage the group of stations owned by the Company and non-cash compensation of employees which principally represents the Company's contribution of stock to the 401(k) plan offered to employees and the costs recognized from certain stock compensation transactions.

SOP should not be regarded as an alternative to either operating income or net loss as an indicator of operating performance or to the statement of cash flows as a measure of liquidity, nor should it be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. The Company believes that operating income (loss) is the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to the SOP financial measure. Reconciliations of historical presentations of SOP to operating income (loss), its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, are provided in the attachment to this release.

First Quarter Conference Call

Young Broadcasting has scheduled a conference call for Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 3:00 PM (ET). You may participate in the conference call by dialing 888-552-9135 (Passcode: YOUNG, Leader: Vincent Young). This will enable you to listen to the presentation. At the end of the presentation you will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with Vincent Young, Chairman of Young Broadcasting Inc. and with James Morgan, the company's CFO.

You may listen to a live webcast of the call via the Company's website at www.youngbroadcasting.com. The archive will be available for replay through June 3, 2008. The webcast is also being distributed through the Thomson StreetEvents Network. Individual investors can listen to the call at www.earnings.com, Thomson's individual investor portal, powered by StreetEvents. Institutional investors can access the call via Thomson StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com), a password-protected event management site. You may listen to a telephone replay of the entire call by dialing 888-566-0692 through May 12, 2008.