Hearst Television
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| Type | subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcast Television Television Production |
| Founded | 1997, by a merger of Hearst Broadcasting and Argyle Television Holdings II |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Area served |  United States (Nationwide) |
| Key people | David J. Barrett, president/chief operating officer |
| Products | Broadcast television |
| Revenue |  $785.4 million USD (2006) |
| Operating income | $228.8 million USD (2006) |
| Net income | $98.7 million USD (2006) |
| Employees | approx. 3000 (full time) |
| Parent | Hearst Corporation |
| Website | www.hearsttelevision.com |
Hearst Television, Inc. (formerly Hearst-Argyle Television) is a broadcasting company in the United States, owned by the New York City-based Hearst Corporation. It holds joint ventures in television production with NBC Universal Television Distribution (although most of the stations it owns are affiliated with ABC). From 1998 to mid-2009, the company traded its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "HTV."
Hearst-Argyle was formed in 1997 with the merger of Hearst Corporation's broadcasting division and stations owned by Argyle Television Holdings II[1], which is partially related to the company of the same name who (in 1994) sold its stations to New World Communications, stations that eventually became Fox-owned stations.
In terms of audience reach, Hearst is the largest group owner of ABC-affiliated stations, and the second-largest group owner of NBC affiliates. Hearst-owned ABC affiliates in National Football League markets simulcast Monday Night Football games from ESPN that involve these teams - ESPN is 20% owned by Hearst, the rest being owned by ABC's parent, the Walt Disney Company. Other Hearst-owned stations also carry ESPN-aired NFL games, even though they are affiliated with other networks (like WBAL-TV, Baltimore's NBC affiliate).
In June 2009, the Hearst Corporation announced that it would purchase substantially all of the stock not held by Hearst. Hearst-Argyle Television then dropped "Argyle" from its name and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation.[2]
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[edit] Digital television
In February 2009 Hearst-Argyle announced that its stations (except for KITV and its satellites in Hawaii, which had already completed their transition to digital) would comply with the new DTV transition date of June 12, 2009.
[edit] Hearst-owned stations
Currently, a total of 26 television stations: ten NBC affiliates, thirteen ABC affiliates, two CBS affiliates, one CW affiliate and one MyNetworkTV affiliate. The company also manages one ABC station, one CW affiliate and one independent station (all of which are owned by a separate, indirect subsidiary of Hearst), and two radio stations (both owned directly by Hearst).
All Hearst-owned stations uses "Project Economy" during most business segments. In addition, all Hearst-owned stations also use the "Commitment" banner for all political news coverage leading up to the local, national, and statewide elections in lieu of a localized version of the network's political segment.
As of Spring 2010, parent company Hearst Corporation is in the process of merging KCWE and the Baltimore radio stations directly into Hearst Television. This move would result in these three station properties being "owned" rather than "managed" by Hearst Television.
In December 2010, KSBW announced that it would add ABC to its multicast lineup, broadcasting NBC on its primary subchannel and ABC on its secondary subchannel. KSBW-DT2 would represent the 14th affiliation with ABC and the only station to have all of its subchannels broadcast in high definition, all while being owned by Hearst.
Notes:
- 1) Two boldface asterisks appearing following a station's call letters (**) indicate a station that was built and signed-on by the Hearst Corporation;
- 2) Two boldface plus signs appearing following a station's call letters (++) indicate a station that is owned by either a separate, indirect subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation (KCWE, WMOR-TV and WPBF) or directly by the Hearst Corporation (WBAL radio and WIYY), and managed by Hearst Television via local marketing agreement (LMA).
[edit] Television stations
Arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
| City of license/Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Owned since | Primary affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Smith - Fayetteville - Rogers, AR | KHBS | 40 (21) | 1996 | ABC (CW on DT2) |
| KHOG-TV (satellite of KHBS) |
29 (15) | 1996 | ABC (CW on DT2) |
|
| Sacramento - Stockton - Modesto | KCRA-TV | 3 (35) | 1999 | NBC |
| KQCA | 58 (46) | 2000 | MyNetworkTV | |
| Salinas - Monterey - Santa Cruz, CA | KSBW | 8 (8) | 1998 | NBC (ABC on DT2) |
| Daytona Beach - Orlando - Clermont, FL | WESH | 2 (11) | 1999 | NBC |
| WKCF | 18 (17) | 2006 | CW | |
| Lakeland - Tampa - St. Petersburg, FL | WMOR-TV | 32 (19) | 1996 | Independent |
| Tequesta - West Palm Beach, FL | WPBF ++ | 25 (16) | 1997 | ABC |
| Hilo, Hawaii | KHVO (satellite of KITV) |
13 (18) | 1995 | ABC |
| Honolulu | KITV | 4 (40) | 1995 | ABC |
| Wailuku, Hawaii | KMAU (satellite of KITV) |
12 (29) | 1995 | ABC |
| Des Moines | KCCI-TV | 8 (8) | 1999 | CBS |
| Louisville | WLKY-TV | 32 (26) | 1999 | CBS |
| New Orleans | WDSU-TV | 6 (43) | 1999 | NBC |
| Poland Spring - Portland, ME | WMTW-TV | 8 (8) | 2004 | ABC |
| Baltimore | WBAL-TV ** | 11 (11) | 1948 | NBC |
| Boston | WCVB-TV | 5 (20) | 1986 | ABC |
| Jackson, Mississippi | WAPT-TV | 16 (21) | 1995 | ABC |
| Kansas City, Missouri | KMBC-TV | 9 (29) | 1982 | ABC |
| KCWE1 | 29 (31) | 2010 | CW | |
| Omaha | KETV | 7 (20) | 1999 | ABC |
| Manchester, New Hampshire | WMUR-TV | 9 (9) | 2001 | ABC |
| Albuquerque - Santa Fe | KOAT-TV | 7 (7) | 1999 | ABC |
| Plattsburgh, N.Y. - Burlington, VT | WPTZ | 5 (14) | 1998 | NBC |
| Cincinnati | WLWT | 5 (35) | 1997 | NBC |
| Oklahoma City | KOCO-TV | 5 (7) | 1997 | ABC |
| Lancaster - Harrisburg - York - Lebanon |
WGAL | 8 (8) | 1999 | NBC |
| Pittsburgh | WTAE-TV ** | 4 (51) | 1958 | ABC |
| Greenville - Spartanburg - Asheville | WYFF | 4 (36) | 1999 | NBC |
| Winston-Salem - Greensboro - High Point |
WXII | 12 (31) | 1999 | NBC |
| Hartford, VT - Hanover, N.H. | WNNE (semi-satellite of WPTZ) |
31 (25) | 1998 | NBC |
| Milwaukee | WISN-TV | 12 (34) | 1955 | ABC |
Footnotes:
1KCWE in Kansas City has been managed by Hearst since its sign-on in 1996 and was owned by an indirect subsidiary of Hearst from 2006 until Hearst Television acquired it outright in 2010.
[edit] Radio stations
| AM Station | FM Station |
| City of License/Market | Station | Owned Since | Current Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | WBAL-1090 ++ | 1935 | News-Talk |
| WIYY-97.9 ++ | 1960 | Active rock/Alternative rock/Classic rock |
[edit] Stations formerly owned by Hearst and/or Argyle II
[edit] Television stations
| DMA# | City of license/Market | Station | TV / DT | Years Owned | Current affiliation/owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41. | Grand Rapids - Kalamazoo - Battle Creek, MI |
WZZM | 13 / 13 | 1995-1997 | ABC affiliate owned by Gannett Company |
| 51. | Buffalo, New York | WGRZ | 2 / 33 | 1995-1997 | NBC affiliate owned by Gannett Company |
| 53. | Providence, R.I.-New Bedford, MA | WNAC-TV 1 | 64 / 12 | 1995-1998 | Dual Fox-MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by WNAC, LLC (operated under LMA by LIN Television) |
| 62. | Dayton, Ohio | WDTN 2 | 2 / 50 | 1981-1998 | NBC affiliate owned by LIN Television |
| 168. | Clarksburg - Weston, W.V. | WBOY-TV | 12 / 12 | 2001 | NBC affiliate owned by West Virginia Media Holdings |
Notes:
- 1 WNAC-TV was owned by Argyle, but operated from 1996 to 2001 by Clear Channel Communications under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with WPRI-TV, which Clear Channel owned at the time.
- 2 WDTN was a ABC affiliate under Hearst during its ownership; LIN switched the station's affiliation back to NBC in 2004.
- Also, from 1998 to 2000, Hearst-Argyle controlled WFFF-TV, a dual Fox-CW affiliate for the Burlington-Plattsburgh market, in an arrangement acquired when Argyle obtained WPTZ.
In addition to the above, Hearst-Argyle never owned WZZM or WGRZ. Those two stations were divested by one of the company's predecessors, Argyle Television Holdings II, several months prior to the merger with Hearst Broadcasting. The "years owned" information reflects the years of ownership by Argyle Television Holdings II. And WDTN was the only formerly owned television station that was owned directly by Hearst prior to the merger.
[edit] Radio stations
(a partial listing)
| AM Stations | FM Stations |
| DMA# | Market | Station | Current Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17. | Phoenix | KKLT-98.7 (now KPKX) |
owned by Bonneville International |
| KTAR-620 | owned by Bonneville International | ||
| KMVP-860 | owned by Bonneville International | ||
| 22. | Pittsburgh | WTAE-FM-96.1 (now WKST-FM) |
owned by Clear Channel Communications |
| WTAE-1250 (now WDDZ) |
owned by Disney/ABC | ||
| 33. | Milwaukee | WISN-FM/WLTQ-97.3 (now WRNW) |
owned by Clear Channel Communications |
| WISN-1130 | owned by Clear Channel Communications | ||
| 54. | Louisville | WLKY-970 (now WGTK) |
owned by Salem Communications |
[edit] References
- ^ Rathbun, Elizabeth A. "Hearst stocks up on Argyles; merged TV group with 14 stations, 11.6% coverage is valued at $1.8 billion., Broadcasting & Cable. March 31, 1997. HighBeam Research. (February 17, 2011).
- ^ Hearst Moves On Merger, Broadcasting & Cable, June 3, 2009
