Meredith Corp. and Media General Inc. said today in a joint news release that they have agreed to terminate immediately the binding merger agreement they entered into on Sept. 8.

In exchange for stepping away from the deal, Meredith will receive $60 million in cash and can negotiate to buy some of Media General’s broadcast and digital assets, according to the release.

With Meredith out of the picture, Richmond, Va.-based Media General will continue negotiating a merger with Nextar Broadcasting Group Inc. of Irving, Texas. Under the terms of its agreement with Media General, Nextar must approve any future sale of Media General assets to Meredith.

“While we still believe in the strategic and financial benefits a merger with Media General would have created, we are pleased with the financial benefits of the termination agreement and the shareholder value created,” Meredith Chairman and CEO Stephen Lacy said in the release.

Meanwhile, Meredith also said today that effort to merge with Media General shaved about 8 cents per share off its quarterly earnings.

According to a release, Meredith’s earnings were 72 cents per share for the quarter, down from 87 cents in the year-ago period.

Excluding special items, made up mostly of expenses related to the deal, earnings per share were 80 cents, according to the release.

Meredith also said it recorded $29 million less of high-margin, incremental political advertising revenues in the second quarter compared with a year ago.

Meredith reported the following results for the second quarter:

• National Media Group operating profits grew nearly 30 percent on 10 percent revenue growth.
• Local Media Group non-political advertising revenues grew nearly 10 percent to a record $104 million. Growth was driven by the addition of television stations WALA in Mobile-Pensacola and WGGB in Springfield, Mass., and strong performance from existing stations WGCL in Atlanta, WFSB in Hartford, Conn., and KCTV in Kansas City, Mo.
• Total company digital advertising revenues grew more than 15 percent to a record high, driven by both recent acquisitions and organic growth. Digital advertising revenues accounted for a third of National Media Group total advertising revenues.

Earnings for the first six months of Meredith’s fiscal year were 96 cents per share, or $1.32 excluding special items. By comparison, prior-year earnings per share were $1.52, or $1.65 excluding special items.  Total revenues grew 3 percent to $791 million.