Hearst-Argyle Television's WDSU-TV, New Orleans, Expands Audience Reach With Additional Carriage Arrangements

Hearst-Argyle Television's WDSU-TV, New Orleans, Expands Audience Reach With Additional Carriage Arrangements

NEW YORK, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WDSU-TV, the New Orleans NBC affiliate owned by Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. (NYSE:HTV) is now being carried on WBTR, Channel 41, an independent television station in Baton Rouge, LA as part of efforts to reach as many people displaced from their New Orleans homes as possible.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050914/NYW126 )

WBTR, owned by Baton Rouge-based Veritas Broadcasting Group, LLC, has more than 600,000 potential viewers in 176,000 cable households and 48,000 non-cable households. The station is licensed as KBTR-CA. WBTR will carry WDSU's local news programming Monday through Sunday, 5-7am and noon-2pm; Monday through Friday, 8-11pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 6-11pm (all times Central).

Additionally, Hearst-Argyle and Veritas are finalizing the establishment of a Baton Rouge news bureau for WDSU at the WBTR facility.

Said WDSU-TV President and General Manager Mason Granger: "I am delighted that we have been able to forge a relationship with WBTR. WBTR's J. D. Perry and Chuck Bush have shown a sincere commitment to public service, which is so essential during this time of crisis."

"We at WBTR want to open our arms and our hearts to our guests from the New Orleans area," said WBTR General Manager Charles Bush III. "We are doing so by partnering with WDSU to provide them with what we believe to be the best news coverage of the Crescent City available. Mason Granger has such a deep desire to serve the citizens of New Orleans that we just had to help in any way we could."

WDSU is also being carried on Time Warner Cable in Jackson, MS (where Time Warner Cable already carries Hearst-Argyle's Jackson-based WAPT-TV), and in Monroe, LA. In addition, as previously announced, WDSU news programming is being broadcast in New Orleans on the Paxson-managed station WPXL-TV, Channel 49; in Houston on Paxson's KPXB-TV, Channel 49, during certain dayparts; and on direct-broadcast satellite (DirecTV and DISH).

WDSU.com Web Traffic Remains At High Levels

The station's website, WDSU.com, also continues to be a primary source of news and information for those displaced from New Orleans as well as for audiences worldwide. On August 29, WDSU.com's page view count surged from an average of approximately 200,000 to more than 4 million, while the number of videos streamed from the site -- or "livestreams" -- grew to nearly 600,000. WDSU.com continues to serve an average of more than 800,000 page views and more than 30,000 video streams daily -- far above the averages for major-market TV-station websites -- as it carries the station's live continuing coverage of the story. The Internet Broadcasting (http://www.ibsys.com/) "network" of websites throughout the country, of which WDSU.com and the other Hearst-Argyle station sites are members, continues to serve an average of more than 20 million page views and nearly 50,000 livestreams daily.

"All of us at WDSU are acutely aware of the necessity of disseminating crucial information to the thousands of people who have been evacuated from the New Orleans area," Granger added. "That is why, in addition to our successful webcasting, we are reaching out to broadcast and cable partners in cities such as Baton Rouge, as well as Houston, Jackson, MS, and Monroe. We thank all of them for their support and dedication to the people who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina."

Reports from WESH-TV Medical Expert Now on WDSU-TV and WDSU.com

WDSU-TV, on its over-the-air broadcasts and over its webcasts at WDSU.com, is now featuring reports from Dr. Todd Husty, who since 1995 has been the medical reporter for Hearst-Argyle sister station WESH-TV, Orlando. Dr. Husty, who addresses issues of health, fitness, and nutrition, with a focus on preventive medicine, is a board-certified emergency physician with a degree in Osteopathic Medicine, as well as the longtime medical director for the Maitland, FL, Fire Department; a medical director of emergency medical services for Seminole County; and a board member of the American Cancer Society. A former editor for the Florida College of Emergency Physicians, Dr. Husty is currently on staff at Winter Park, FL, Memorial Hospital. Dr. Husty's reports, which have taken him to New Orleans area hospitals, mobile field hospitals, clinics, and the regions affected by contaminated waters, are beamed to Hearst-Argyle stations around the country via Hearst-Argyle's dedicated satellite service, managed out of the Company's Washington, DC, news bureau.

Status of the WDSU-TV Facility

Granger also noted: "A number of WDSU people have returned to the WDSU facility. We have a team in the studio providing news reports to supplement the anchor teams reporting from the WESH (Orlando) and WAPT (Jackson) studios. We also have three crews throughout New Orleans reporting the ongoing story. And an engineering team is readying the station eventually to broadcast once again from WDSU's own tower and transmitter."

Other Katrina-Related Activities at Hearst-Argyle Television

Hearst-Argyle Television stations have conducted numerous telethons and participated in other fund-raising efforts, which to date have helped generate more than $10 million in cash donations on behalf of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Additional updates on WDSU-TV, Hearst-Argyle Television efforts relative to Hurricane Katrina, and on the Hearst-Argyle Employee Disaster Relief Foundation, can be found at http://www.hearstargyle.com/, which is being updated regularly as new information becomes available.

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 and a WB affiliate, and manages a UPN affiliate and an independent station.

Hearst-Argyle's stations are recognized news leaders. The station group has been honored with three consecutive Walter Cronkite Awards, presented by the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication, for excellence in television political journalism, and is the only group to have received the award since its inception. Hearst-Argyle stations also are the recipients of many of television's other highest awards for excellence in journalism, programming and community service, including the Peabody, the du Pont-Columbia Journalism Award, the Sigma Delta Chi Award, the Gabriel, the Ad Council Silver Bell, the National Headliner Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Emmy.

Hearst-Argyle also is a leader in the convergence of local broadcast television and the Internet through its partnership with Internet Broadcasting Systems, 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/.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050914/NYW126 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN5 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.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.wdsu.com/ http://www.ibsys.com/

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