Sarah Smith Appointed President and General Manager of KETV, Omaha

Sarah Smith Appointed President and General Manager of KETV, Omaha

NEW YORK and OMAHA, Neb., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sarah Smith, a broadcast television executive whose career has included senior sales positions in Dallas and Los Angeles, is joining Hearst-Argyle Television as President and General Manager of KETV, the ABC affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska. She succeeds Joel Vilmenay, who has been appointed president and general manager of WDSU-TV, the company's NBC affiliate in New Orleans.

The appointment was announced today by David J. Barrett, president and chief executive officer of Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.

"Sarah will bring valuable experience and great energy to KETV," Barrett said. "The stations she managed in her most recent General Manager role have flourished under her leadership, and her accomplishments over the past few years indicate her readiness to take on the wonderful opportunity to lead KETV. Sarah shares our company's vision and values for local television and we believe she is the right person to help KETV continue and expand upon the record of success it enjoyed under Joel's leadership."

Most recently Smith served as Vice President/General Manager of both KRCR- TV and KAEF-TV, the BlueStone Television stations serving the Chico-Redding and Eureka, California markets, respectively. During her tenure, KRCR became the local ratings leader while KAEF substantially expanded its audience. Before that, she served with the Belo television group, most recently as General Sales Manager for KVUE-TV, Austin, Texas and, previously, as National Sales Manager for WFAA-TV, Dallas, and KXTV, Sacramento. She also was Local Sales Manager for LIN Television's WISH-TV, Indianapolis. She began her career as a Local Account Executive for Belo's KOTV, Tulsa, before moving to Los Angeles as an Account Executive for the national broadcast sales representation firm Telerep, where she was responsible for spot sales for 22 TV stations. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois.

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 is majority owned by 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/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: tcampo@hearst.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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