Journal Communications Reports October Revenue and Volume for Its Publishing and Broadcast Groups.

MILWAUKEE -- Journal Communications, Inc. (NYSE:JRN) announced today that for the tenth period ended October 23, 2005, total revenues for its Publishing and Broadcast groups of $39.84 million decreased 9.2% compared to $43.89 million reported for the tenth period ended October 24, 2004. The decrease in total revenues reflects, in large part, tougher broadcast comparisons due to significant political and issue advertising revenue generated in the 2004 tenth period as well as lost revenues from Journal Community Publishing Group's Dixie Web Printing facility in New Orleans. For the tenth period 2005, advertising revenues of $33.93 million decreased 9.7% compared to $37.56 million for the 2004 tenth period. Both periods contained 28 days.

Note that unless otherwise indicated, all comparisons are to the tenth period ended October 24, 2004. Also note that the Green Bay television operations were purchased on October 6, 2004 and are now considered "same-station" revenue on a comparative basis.

At the Publishing segment, revenues at the daily newspaper and the community newspapers and shoppers totaled $26.34 million, a decrease of 2.3% compared to $26.96 million. Advertising revenue was $20.43 million, essentially flat compared to $20.63 million. Circulation revenue of $3.55 million was down 2.1% compared to $3.63 million. Other revenue of $2.36 million was down 12.6% in the period year over year, reflecting the loss of commercial printing due to the closure of our Louisiana printing plant.

At the daily newspaper, total advertising revenue was $15.06 million, down 1.4% compared to $15.28 million. Specifically, retail advertising revenue decreased 8.2% due in large part to continued weakness in auto; classified advertising revenue increased 1.5%; and general advertising revenue decreased 25.2%. Other advertising revenue increased 27.6% to $2.45 million, reflecting growth in Journal Interactive and solo and shared mail. Within classified advertising, the help wanted and auto verticals decreased 4.4% and 22.4%, respectively, and real estate and general/other increased 19.7% and 24.2%, respectively. Circulation revenue at the daily newspaper was $3.32 million, down 2.7% compared to $3.41 million. Other revenue at the daily newspaper of $0.43 million was up 37.0% compared to $0.32 million, reflecting growth in commercial printing.

At the Company's community newspapers and shoppers operations, total advertising revenue was $5.37 million, essentially flat compared to $5.36 million. Specifically, retail advertising revenue decreased 1.3%, classified advertising revenue increased 7.8% and other advertising revenue increased 5.5% to $0.17 million. Circulation revenue at the community newspapers and shoppers of $0.23 million increased 6.9%. Other revenue at the community newspapers and shoppers of $1.93 million decreased 19.2%, reflecting the loss of commercial printing due to the closure of our Louisiana printing plant.

At the Broadcasting segment, total revenue at the Company's radio stations and television stations of $13.50 million decreased 20.2%. This compares to total revenue of $16.93 million reported for the 2004 tenth period.

At the radio group, revenue was $6.89 million, a decrease of 6.9% compared to $7.40 million. This decline reflects a one-time year-to-date adjustment of $0.33 million recorded in the tenth period 2004 as well as tougher comparison to last year's tenth period due to strong political and issue advertising.

At the television group, revenue decreased 30.6% to $6.61 million, reflecting tougher comparisons to last year's tenth period, which included significant political and issue advertising. This compares to revenue of $9.52 million reported for the tenth period 2004.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release may contain 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. We also have signed an agreement with Emmis Communications Corporation to purchase three additional television stations located in Omaha, Tucson and Fort Myers, Florida. 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.

Tables Follow

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

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

              Tenth period of 2005  (A)     Tenth period of 2004  (B)
            ----------------------------- ----------------------------
                      Community                     Community
              Daily   Newspapers            Daily   Newspapers
            Newspaper & Shoppers  Total   Newspaper & Shoppers  Total
            --------- ---------- -------- --------- ---------- -------

Advertising
 revenue:
  Retail      $6,690    $4,340   $11,030    $7,285   $4,396   $11,681
  Classified   5,251       858     6,109     5,171      796     5,967
  General        675        --       675       903       --       903
  Other        2,447       173     2,620     1,918      164     2,082
            --------- --------- --------- --------- -------- ---------
Total
 advertising
 revenue      15,063     5,371    20,434    15,277    5,356    20,633
Circulation
 revenue       3,315       233     3,548     3,407      218     3,625
Other
 revenue         433     1,926     2,359       316    2,384     2,700
            --------- --------- --------- --------- -------- ---------
Total
 revenue     $18,811    $7,530   $26,341   $19,000   $7,958   $26,958
            ========= ========= ========= ========= ======== =========


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

Advertising
 revenue:
   Retail                          (8.2)    (1.3)   (5.6)
   Classified                       1.5      7.8     2.4
   General                        (25.2)      --   (25.2)
   Other                           27.6      5.5    25.8
Total
 advertising
 revenue                           (1.4)     0.3    (1.0)
Circulation
 revenue                           (2.7)     6.9    (2.1)
Other revenue                      37.0    (19.2)  (12.6)
Total revenue                      (1.0)    (5.4)   (2.3)


              Ten periods of 2005  (C)       Ten periods of 2004  (D)
            ----------------------------- ----------------------------
                      Community                     Community
              Daily   Newspapers            Daily   Newspapers
            Newspaper & Shoppers  Total   Newspaper & Shoppers  Total
            --------- ---------- -------- --------- ---------- -------

Advertising
 revenue:
  Retail     $66,167   $45,617  $111,784   $66,358  $45,840  $112,198
  Classified  55,418     8,285    63,703    53,993    7,702    61,695
  General      8,606        --     8,606     9,406       --     9,406
  Other       20,141     1,568    21,709    16,917    1,644    18,561
            --------- --------- --------- --------- -------- ---------
Total
 advertising
 revenue     150,332    55,470   205,802   146,674   55,186   201,860
Circulation
 revenue      34,738     2,398    37,136    35,737    2,387    38,124
Other
 revenue       5,256    23,378    28,634     4,621   24,125    28,746
            --------- --------- --------- --------- -------- ---------
Total
 revenue    $190,326   $81,246  $271,572  $187,032  $81,698  $268,730
            ========= ========= ========= ========= ======== =========


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

Advertising
 revenue:
   Retail                          (0.3)    (0.5)   (0.4)
   Classified                       2.6      7.6     3.3
   General                         (8.5)      --    (8.5)
   Other                           19.1     (4.6)   17.0
Total
 advertising
 revenue                            2.5      0.5     2.0
Circulation
 revenue                           (2.8)     0.5    (2.6)
Other revenue                      13.7     (3.1)   (0.4)
Total revenue                       1.8     (0.6)    1.1

(A) 2005 tenth period: September 26 to October 23, 2005.
(B) 2004 tenth period: September 27 to October 24, 2004.
(C) Ten periods of 2005: December 27, 2004 to October 23, 2005.
(D) Ten periods of 2004: January 1, 2004 to October 24, 2004.

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. The revenues for
both the period and the year-to-date are not necessarily indicative of
the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December
25, 2005.


Daily newspaper's core newspaper advertising linage by category and
core newspaper and shared mail preprint pieces:
-------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 Tenth period (A) (B)
                                -----------------------
                                    2005        2004      % Change
                                ----------- ----------- ------------
Advertising linage (inches):

Full run
   Retail                           53,275      67,020        (20.5)
   Classified                       61,463      65,731         (6.5)
   General                           3,961       4,003         (1.0)
                                ----------- -----------
Total full run                     118,699     136,754        (13.2)
Part run                            14,962      17,570        (14.8)
                                ----------- -----------
Total advertising linage           133,661     154,324        (13.4)
                                =========== ===========

Preprint pieces (in thousands)      69,882      64,407          8.5
                                =========== ===========

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

Full pages of advertising:
   Community newspapers              7,618       8,224         (7.4)
   Shoppers and specialty
    products                         8,335       8,611         (3.2)
                                ----------- -----------
Total full pages of advertising     15,953      16,835         (5.2)
                                =========== ===========

Revenue per page                   $294.66     $284.66          3.5
                                =========== ===========

Daily newspaper's core newspaper advertising linage by category and
core newspaper and shared mail preprint pieces:
-------------------------------------------------------------------

                                  Ten periods (C) (D)
                                -----------------------
                                    2005        2004      % Change
                                ----------- ----------- ------------
Advertising linage (inches):

Full run
   Retail                          569,423     592,075         (3.8)
   Classified                      663,668     715,641         (7.3)
   General                          38,007      44,144        (13.9)
                                ----------- -----------
Total full run                   1,271,098   1,351,860         (6.0)
Part run                           141,069     139,041          1.5
                                ----------- -----------
Total advertising linage         1,412,167   1,490,901         (5.3)
                                =========== ===========

Preprint pieces (in thousands)     707,045     631,050         12.0
                                =========== ===========

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

Full pages of advertising:
   Community newspapers             76,263      83,180         (8.3)
   Shoppers and specialty
    products                        90,000      90,168         (0.2)
                                ----------- -----------
Total full pages of advertising    166,263     173,348         (4.1)
                                =========== ===========

Revenue per page                   $297.29     $283.64          4.8
                                =========== ===========

(A) 2005 tenth period: September 26 to October 23, 2005.
(B) 2004 tenth period: September 27 to October 24, 2004.
(C) Ten periods of 2005: December 27, 2004 to October 23, 2005.
(D) Ten periods of 2004: January 1, 2004 to October 24, 2004.

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. All data are
subject to later adjustment.


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

Broadcasting revenue by radio and television:
---------------------------------------------

             Tenth period of 2005 (A)      Tenth period of 2004 (B)
           ----------------------------- -----------------------------

            Radio   Television   Total    Radio   Television   Total
           -------- ---------- --------- -------- ---------- ---------

Revenue     $6,893     $6,607   $13,500   $7,404     $9,523   $16,927
           ======== ========== ========= ======== ========== =========


                         % Change   % Change    % Change
                            Radio   Television     Total
                         ---------- ---------- -----------

Revenue                       (6.9)     (30.6)      (20.2)


              Ten periods of 2005 (C)       Ten periods of 2004 (D)
           ----------------------------- -----------------------------

             Radio  Television   Total     Radio  Television   Total
           -------- ---------- --------- -------- ---------- ---------

Revenue    $68,467    $65,662  $134,129  $66,324    $71,450  $137,774
           ======== ========== ========= ======== ========== =========


                         % Change   % Change    % Change
                            Radio   Television     Total
                         ---------- ---------- -----------

Revenue                        3.2       (8.1)       (2.6)


(A) 2005 tenth period: September 26 to October 23, 2005.
(B) 2004 tenth period: September 27 to October 24, 2004.
(C) Ten periods of 2005: December 27, 2004 to October 23, 2005.
(D) Ten periods of 2004: January 1, 2004 to October 24, 2004.

NOTE: Broadcasting segment information is provided to facilitate
comparison of our broadcasting segment results with those of other
broadcasting companies and is not representative of the overall
business of Journal Communications or its operating results. The
revenues for both the period and the year-to-date are not necessarily
indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year
ending December 25, 2005.