Hearst-Argyle Television Stations Lead ABC's Primetime Ratings

Hearst-Argyle Television Stations Lead ABC's Primetime Ratings

NEW YORK, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Three Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. stations tied for first-place in primetime ratings among all ABC owned and affiliated stations in the top 50 markets, based on a nationwide analysis of Nielsen Media Research data for the November 2006 ratings period.

Hearst-Argyle stations KMBC-TV, Kansas City (MO), WISN-TV, Milwaukee, and KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City, each delivered a 7 local rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic category, creating an unusual three-way tie for first place among all ABC stations in the top 50 markets. ABC's average Adults 18-49 ratings were 4.6 for the top 50 markets and 4.5 for all markets.

Similarly, in the Adults 25-54 demographic, KOCO, WISN and KMBC earned the first, second and third positions with ratings of 8.5, 8.1 and 8.0, respectively, compared to the top-50-market ABC average of 5.3 and the all- market ABC average of 5.2.

In recent years these three Hearst-Argyle stations have delivered top-tier ratings for ABC's primetime shows, but this marks the first time that KMBC, WISN and KOCO have led in both the 18-49 and 25-54 demographics and tied for first place in either.

Hearst-Argyle's 13 ABC stations compose the largest group of ABC affiliates. On average, Hearst-Argyle ABC stations consistently overindex the network's national ratings delivery in Adults 25-54 for prime time as well as for "World News Tonight," "Good Morning America" and "The View," franchise programs for the ABC Television Network.

"Leadership in local news, local content and local branding helps our stations connect with our viewers on-air and on-line, defining success for our company," said Hearst-Argyle Television President and CEO David J. Barrett. "This local leadership enables us to deliver strong ratings for network programming as well, and we are delighted that our ABC stations made such a positive contribution to ABC's national ratings performance in November."

The top-10 ABC owned or affiliated stations in terms of ratings and audience shares in the key demographics in Nielsen-metered markets in November were as follows:

MON - SUN PRIME/A18-49 (TOP TEN METERED MARKET STATIONS)

Rating/Share

WISN MILWAUKEE 7.0/19
KMBC KANSAS CITY 7.0/18
KOCO OKLAHOMA CITY 7.0/16
WSYX COLUMBUS, OH 6.0/15
WHAS LOUISVILLE 6.0/15
WXYZ DETROIT 6.0/14
KSAT SAN ANTONIO 6.0/14
WFTV ORLANDO 5.7/13
WSOC CHARLOTTE 5.7/13
WVEC NORFOLK 5.6/14

MON - SUN PRIME/A25-54 (TOP TEN METERED MARKET STATIONS)

KOCO OKLAHOMA CITY 8.5/17
WISN MILWAUKEE 8.1/19
KMBC KANSAS CITY 8.0/18
WSYX COLUMBUS, OH 7.0/15
WXYZ DETROIT 6.7/15
KSAT SAN ANTONIO 6.7/14
WHAS LOUISVILLE 6.6/14
WCPO CINCINNATI 6.5/15
WSB ATLANTA 6.5/14
WVEC NORFOLK 6.4/14

Source: ABC, Nielsen

Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. owns 26 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 America's largest television station groups. Hearst-Argyle owns 12 ABC-affiliated stations, and manages an additional ABC station owned by Hearst Corporation, and is the largest ABC affiliate group. The Company also owns 10 NBC affiliates, and is the second- largest NBC affiliate owner, and 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 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 www.hearstargyle.com.

Source: Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.

CONTACT: Thomas W. Campo, +1-212-887-6827, tcampo@hearst.com

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

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