NEW YORK, May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. announced today that shareholders elected one Class I Series A nominee and five Class I Series B nominees to the Board of Directors for a two-year term.
The Series A director, Caroline L. Williams, has been a director of Hearst-Argyle Television and a predecessor company, Argyle Television, Inc., since 1994. She is Director of Shareholder Activities for The Nathan Cummings Foundation, for which she previously served as Chief Financial and Investment Officer.
The Series B directors are: Frank A. Bennack, Jr., former President and CEO of the Hearst Corporation, who has served as a director of Hearst-Argyle Television since 1997 and as the Board's Presiding Director since 2002; John G. Conomikes, former President and Co-CEO of Hearst-Argyle Television and a Hearst-Argyle director since 1997; George R. Hearst, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hearst Corporation and a Hearst-Argyle Television director since 1997; Bob Marbut, former Chairman and Co-CEO of Hearst-Argyle Television and a director of Hearst-Argyle and a predecessor company since 1994; and Gilbert C. Maurer, former Chief Operating Officer of the Hearst Corporation and a Hearst-Argyle director since 1997.
Shareholders also ratified the appointment by the Hearst-Argyle Board of Directors' Audit Committee of Deloitte & Touche LLP to serve as the Company's independent auditors for 2006.
The deadline for stockholder proposals to be presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting is December 6, 2006, as noted in the Company's Proxy Statement dated April 5, 2006.
At a meeting of the Board of Directors subsequent to the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, the Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per share on its Series A and Series B Common Stock. The dividend is payable on July 15, 2006 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 5, 2006.
At the Company's annual meeting, David J. Barrett, Hearst-Argyle President and Chief Executive Officer, noted the many accomplishments of Hearst-Argyle stations in 2005 and early 2006, including 20 regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for journalistic excellence. He also singled out the efforts of the people at Hearst-Argyle's WDSU-TV, New Orleans, and the journalists and others from throughout the Hearst-Argyle group who assisted the station during the ordeal of Hurricane Katrina.
Acknowledging the challenges media companies face today, Barrett said, "Our efforts are rooted in localism and the cornerstone of that localism is quality local journalism; we will build on those efforts as we take part in the conversion to digital communications technology."
Noting Hearst-Argyle's substantial investments in digital media, Barrett added, "We are not holding on to yesterday's business models; we are investing aggressively in the digital future. We are already a force on the Web, with our sites in the first quarter alone drawing more than 315 million pageviews from an average of nearly nine million monthly unique visitors, and each of our sites is among the top handful of most-visited Web destinations in their local markets. Our success in audience aggregation, both on the air and on the Web, is driven by our commitment to outstanding local journalism; our success as a company is driven by the leadership values we instill in our people."
Additional detail about WDSU's and Hearst-Argyle's activities during and after Katrina, as well as other updated information, is provided on Hearst- Argyle's corporate website.
A replay of the audio webcast of the meeting is also available at the website, http://www.hearstargyle.com/, in the Investor Relations section.
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. As of March 31, 2006, the Hearst Corporation owned 71.5% of Hearst-Argyle's total outstanding common stock. 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.
