February 6, 2007

Journal Register Company Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2006 Results

Non-Cash Items Reduce GAAP Earnings

Yardley, PA – Journal Register Company (NYSE: JRC) today reported adjusted net income of $10.1 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, for the fourteen week quarter ended December 31, 2006, as compared to net income of $12.5 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, for the thirteen week quarter ended December 25, 2005. For the fifty-three week year ended December 31, 2006, the Company reported adjusted net income of $34.8 million or $0.88 per diluted share as compared to $46.9 million or $1.12 per diluted share for the fifty-two week year ended December 25, 2005.

The Company’s 2006 fourth quarter adjusted net income excludes a one-time non-cash charge for an intangible asset adjustment of $35.1 million after tax, related to the Company’s Michigan cluster and its investment in PowerOne Media LLC. The Company’s reported results, including these items, were a loss of $25.1 million or a loss of $0.64 per diluted share for the quarter ended December 31, 2006. The Company’s full year 2006 adjusted net income also excludes, in addition to the items in the fourth quarter, an item related to a one-time charge for a non-compete/separation arrangement of $2.5 million after tax that was taken in the second quarter and a one time charge of $3.4 million after tax related to the re-pricing of the Company’s refinanced credit facility recorded in the first quarter. The Company’s reported results for the year including such items, was a loss of $6.2 million or a loss of $0.16 per diluted share. There were no similar charges recorded in the fourth quarter or full year 2005 results.

Chairman and CEO Robert M. Jelenic stated, “As expected, print advertising remained difficult during the quarter particularly in our Michigan cluster. However, the quarter did reflect a relatively strong Period 12 in automotive advertising which helped our overall performance for the period. As for the coming year, we remain focused on continuing to strengthen our dominant local franchises both in print and online. We are confident that the new media platform which has been in development over the past six months will greatly enhance all of our local Web sites when we complete our company-wide rollout by the end of 2007. We are expecting the co-branded Yahoo! HotJobs internet employment Web sites to be rolled out to all of our clusters by the beginning of the second quarter. We are also in the process of expanding JobsInTheUS to new states and expect that its dynamic growth will continue in 2007. In terms of our Michigan cluster, the non-cash goodwill adjustment that we took in the fourth quarter was the result of continued softness in the overall Michigan economy. However, we are expecting to post improvements in 2007 and are committed to the longer term strategy which includes the opening of our new production facility, strong cost controls and belief in the future of the Michigan economy. This charge in no way diminishes our belief in this important asset and our commitment to improving its performance and value in the future.”

The Company reviewed the values of its intangible assets, as required under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, and determined that a non-cash charge of $33.7 million after tax, $0.86 per share, was appropriate at this time. The charge is specifically related to our Michigan cluster and the difficult automotive centric economic conditions in that state.

In December 2006 and January 2007, the Company announced the sales of its newspaper assets in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, respectively. The properties involved are presented as discontinued operations and their results are excluded from revenues, operating expenses and operating income but are included in 2005 and 2006 net income/(loss) and earnings/(loss) per share. The sale of the Rhode Island newspapers was completed on February 5, 2007. The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, in connection with the Company’s sale of its Massachusetts newspapers expired at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on February 5, 2007. The Company expects to complete this sale shortly and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Overall Revenue

For comparison purposes, the Company’s revenues are presented, where noted, on a pro forma basis, which assumes that all properties owned in the current period were owned in both the current and prior year periods and excludes discontinued operations. Certain operating expenses are presented, where noted, on a same-store basis, which excludes the results of the Company’s acquisitions from the current and prior year periods. The 2006 fourth quarter and full year includes an additional week (14 weeks and 53 weeks) as compared to the same periods in 2005.

Total revenues for the Company’s continuing and discontinued operations for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 were $142.2 million, as compared to total revenues of $140.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2005, a 0.9 percent increase. Total revenues for the full year 2006 were $545.1 million, as compared to total revenues of $556.6 million for the full year 2005, a decrease of 2.0 percent.

Total Advertising Revenue

Total advertising revenues, for the Company’s continuing and discontinued operations, increased 0.1 percent to $110.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, as compared to $110.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2005. Total advertising revenues for the full year 2006 were $424.6 million, as compared to $435.1 for the full year 2005, a decrease of 2.4 percent.

Total advertising revenues, as reported, for the fourth quarter of 2006 increased 0.2 percent to $102.2 million, as compared to $102.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2005. Total advertising revenues, as reported, for the full year 2006 were $393.2 million, as compared to $403.6 for the full year 2005, a decrease of 2.6 percent.

On a pro forma basis, total advertising revenues decreased 1.0 percent and decreased 3.6 percent for the fourth quarter and full year 2006, respectively, as compared to the prior year periods.

Online Revenue

The Company continued to post strong gains in online revenues in 2006. Online revenues were $3.8 million for the quarter and $15.3 million for the full year 2006, reflecting an increase of 25.9 percent and 30.7 percent, on a pro forma basis, as compared to the respective 2005 periods. The Company’s Web sites generated 97 million page views during the fourth quarter and 371 million for the full year, an increase of approximately 62 percent and 71 percent, respectively, as compared to the prior year period. In December, the Company also reported 3.8 million unique visitors to its Web sites, including over 1.5 million visitors to the Company’s JobsInTheUS Web sites.

Retail Revenue

On a pro forma basis, retail advertising revenues for the fourth quarter of 2006 increased 0.3 percent and decreased 2.7 percent for the full year 2006, as compared to the prior year period.

Classified Revenue

Classified advertising revenues on a pro forma basis decreased 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006, as compared to the prior year quarter. Pro forma classified real estate advertising revenues decreased 6.8 percent in the quarter as compared to the fourth quarter of last year. Pro forma classified employment advertising revenues were down 0.7 percent for the quarter. Classified automotive advertising revenues declined 1.9 percent for the quarter as compared to the prior year quarter. Classified other advertising revenues increased 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006, as compared to the prior year quarter.

Classified advertising revenues on a pro forma basis decreased 3.8 percent for the full year 2006, as compared to the prior year. Pro forma classified real estate advertising revenues were flat for the full year 2006, as compared to the prior year. Pro forma classified employment advertising revenues for the full year 2006 were down 5.0 percent, as compared to the prior year. Classified automotive advertising revenues declined 13.7 percent for the full year as compared to the prior year. Classified other advertising revenues increased 3.5 percent for the full year as compared to the prior year.

National Advertising Revenue

National advertising revenues, which represent less than five percent of the Company’s advertising revenues, were down 18.8 percent and 10.6 percent, on a pro forma basis, respectively, for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2006, as compared to the prior year period.

Circulation Revenue

Circulation revenues, for the Company’s continuing and discontinued operations, were $26.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2006, as compared to $25.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2005, an increase of 3.5 percent. For the full year, for the Company’s continuing and discontinued operations, circulation revenues were $101.8 million for 2006, compared to $102.9 million in 2005, a decrease of 1.1 percent.

Expenses

The Company’s same-store non-newsprint cash operating expenses increased 1.5 percent due to the extra week during the fourth quarter, as compared to the prior year period. For the full year 2006, same-store non-newsprint cash operating expenses decreased 1.0 percent, excluding the special charge for the second quarter of 2006 described above. Excluding both the additional week in 2006 and the special charge for the second quarter of 2006 described above, same-store non-cash operating expenses were down 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter and 2.5 percent for the full year as exceptional cost reduction initiatives continued. Newsprint expense increased approximately twelve percent for the quarter, reflecting an increase in unit cost of approximately nine percent, and an increase in consumption of approximately three percent. For the fourth quarter, excluding the extra week, newsprint expenses increased approximately five percent, reflecting an increase in unit cost of approximately nine percent and a decrease in consumption of approximately three percent.

Net Debt and Capital Expenditures

The Company had $726.3 million of net debt outstanding as of December 31, 2006, reflecting a decline from $733.2 million outstanding as of the third quarter 2006 and a decrease of $19.5 million from December 25, 2005. The estimated $58 million of net cash proceeds related to the sales of our Massachusetts and Rhode Island newspapers will be used to further reduce our net debt in the first quarter of 2007. The Company’s capital expenditures in the fourth quarter were $12.0 million, including $5.1 million for costs in connection with the build-out of the Clinton Township, Michigan press and mailroom facility which is on schedule to be completed in the third quarter of 2007. The Company’s full year 2006 capital expenditures were $32.1 million.

Earnings Call Information

The Company’s fourth quarter 2006 earnings conference call is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time today and will be accessible via a live Internet Webcast and a limited number of listen-only, dial-in conference lines. The live Webcast can be accessed through Journal Register Company's Web site, www.journalregister.com, and through CCBN's Individual Investor Center and CCBN's StreetEvents for institutional investors at www.streetevents.com. Please access the Webcast at least ten minutes prior to the start of the call to ensure adequate connection time. An archive of the Webcast will be available at www.journalregister.com for seven days following the call.

About Journal Register Company

Journal Register Company is a leading U.S. media company. Journal Register Company owns 24 daily newspapers and 353 non-daily publications. Journal Register Company currently operates 229 individual Web sites that are affiliated with the Company's daily newspapers, non-daily publications and its network of employment Web sites. These Web sites can be accessed at www.journalregister.com. All of the Company’s operations are strategically clustered in seven geographic areas: Greater Philadelphia; Michigan; Connecticut; Greater Cleveland; New England; and the Capital-Saratoga and Mid-Hudson regions of New York. The Company owns JobsInTheUS, a network of 19 premier employment Web sites.

Safe- Harbor

This release contains forward-looking information about Journal Register Company that is intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believe”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “project”, “plan”, “seek”, “intend”, or “anticipate” or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, and include discussions of the proposed sale of assets, strategy, financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, the extent or timing of cost savings, charges and statements about the future performance, operations, growth rates, products and services of the Company. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of the parties to complete the planned sale of the Company’s Massachusetts newspapers, the success of the Company's acquisition strategy, dispositions, the ability of the Company to achieve cost reductions and integrate acquisitions, failure or interruptions in the software or systems that support our product and services, competitive pressures, general or regional economic conditions and advertising trends, the unavailability or a material increase in the price of newsprint and increases in interest rates. These and additional risk factors are outlined in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Financial Measures

In this release, financial measures are presented both in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and also on a non-GAAP basis. These non-GAAP measures are not measurements under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. These measurements should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information contained in our financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. We have defined below each of the non-GAAP measures we use, but these measures may not be synonymous to similar measurement terms used by other companies. All EBITDA, Free Cash Flow, Adjusted Net Income and Net Income excluding special items figures in this release are non-GAAP financial measures. EBITDA is defined as net income plus provision for income taxes, net interest expense, depreciation, amortization, and other non-cash, special or non-recurring charges. Free Cash Flow is defined as EBITDA minus capital expenditures, interest and cash income taxes. Adjusted Net Income excludes the special items that are described elsewhere in this release. EBITDA Margin is defined as EBITDA divided by total revenues. The Company believes that the use of certain non-GAAP financial measures enables the Company and its investors to evaluate and compare the Company’s results from operations and cash resources generated from its business in a more meaningful and consistent manner and provides an analysis of operating results using the same measures used by the Company’s chief operating decision makers to measure the performance of the Company. The Company believes that the emphasis on measures of cash flow is appropriate given the generally predictable cash flow generated by the Company’s operations and the short period of time it takes to convert new orders to cash. Please see the financial summary below for information reconciling non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP financial measures.

Financial Summary follows.

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