Hearst-Argyle Television Stations Receive Multiple Regional, National Journalism Honors in Recent Competition

Hearst-Argyle Television Stations Receive Multiple Regional, National Journalism Honors in Recent Competition

Honors Are Led by 20 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, Making Stations Eligible for National Awards, in October

NEW YORK, April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. (NYSE:HTV) stations have received numerous prestigious journalism awards in recently completed competitions, led by 20 regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. The regional Murrow Awards, acknowledging excellence in local electronic journalism in 2006 regional competitions, are sponsored by the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA).

Washington, D.C.-based RTNDA received 3,253 regional entries, up 354 from last year. Judges granted 606 awards to 279 television and radio stations in 14 categories including overall excellence, best newscast and best website. Hearst-Argyle's 20 awards recognize excellence among peer stations. Regional award winners are eligible for prestigious national Murrow Awards, to be presented at RTNDA's annual dinner in October in New York City.

Earning honors for best newscast in their respective market categories were WISN-TV, Milwaukee; KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City; and WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, which also was recognized for feature reporting. WBAL-AM was recognized for overall excellence, in addition to four other awards, in its regional large-market radio category. Also earning awards in their respective market categories were WCVB-TV, Boston (three awards); WBAL-TV, Baltimore (four awards); KOAT-TV, Albuquerque; KETV, Omaha; WYFF-TV, Greenville, S.C.; and KCCI-TV, Des Moines, which was recognized in its market for best website.

In prestigious regional Associated Press (AP) competition, WCVB-TV was named Station of the Year in the Massachusetts/Rhode Island region, while WISN-TV earned two awards -- one for Best Spot News Coverage and one for Best Documentary, for its highly rated primetime newsmagazine "12 News On Assignment," in Wisconsin competition.

In recent national journalism competition, Hearst-Argyle's WBAL-AM, Baltimore, and WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, earned multiple National Headliner Awards. Founded in 1934 by the Press Club of Atlantic City, the National Headliner Awards program is recognized as one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing journalistic merit. WBAL-AM received four awards including third- place for best newscast among all U.S. radio stations; WTAE-TV received five awards including third-place for best newscast among all U.S. TV stations, and first-place for health reporting.

"We're very proud of all of this year's Hearst-Argyle recipients, and of the outstanding journalism they and our other stations contribute to their local communities each day and each year," noted David J. Barrett, Hearst-Argyle Television president and CEO. "These most recent honors, coupled with, in recent years, national Murrow, du Pont-Columbia and Peabody awards, acknowledge Hearst-Argyle's reputation as being among the most honored broadcast groups in our industry."

A complete list of regional Murrow honorees can be found at the RTNDA website, http://www.rtnda.org/.

About Hearst-Argyle

Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. owns 25 television stations, and manages an additional three television and two radio stations, in geographically diverse U.S. markets. The Company's television stations reach approximately 18% of U.S. TV households, making it one of the largest U.S. television station groups. The Company owns 10 NBC affiliates, and is the second-largest NBC affiliate owner. Hearst-Argyle also owns 12 ABC-affiliated stations, and manages an additional ABC station owned by The Hearst Corporation, and is the largest ABC affiliate group. The Company also owns two CBS affiliates.

Hearst-Argyle also is a leader in the convergence of local broadcast television and the Internet through its partnership with Internet Broadcasting, and in the application of digital broadcast spectrum for new local informational services through its Weather Plus partnership with NBC and various NBC affiliate groups.

Hearst-Argyle is majority owned by the Hearst Corporation. Hearst-Argyle Series A Common Stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "HTV." HTV debt is rated investment grade by Moody's (Baa3), Standard & Poor's (BBB-) and Fitch (BBB-), each with a stable outlook. The company's Web address is http://www.hearstargyle.com/.

Source: Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.

CONTACT: Thomas W. Campo of Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.,
+1-212-887-6827, tcampo@hearst.com

Web site: http://www.hearstargyle.com/
http://www.rtnda.org/

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