NEWS Contact: Harry T. Hawks (212) 887-6823

Thomas W. Campo (212) 887-6827

HEARST-ARGYLE TELEVISION ANNOUNCES RESULTS FOR THE FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR

Fourth Quarter After-Tax Cash Flow per Share of $0.59; Earnings per Share up 11% to $0.40

Pro Forma Results Indicate That Pulitzer, Kelly Acquisitions Are Accretive to After-Tax Cash Flow per Share

NEW YORK, N.Y., February 22, 1999 – Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. (NYSE: HTV) today announced operating results for the fourth quarter and the full year, 1998.

On a GAAP-reported basis, revenues for the three months grew 2.6%, to $115.3 million; broadcast cash flow (station operating income, plus depreciation and amortization, plus amortization of program rights, minus program payments) grew 4.6%, to $58.7 million. After- tax cash flow (income before extraordinary item, plus depreciation and amortization), a key financial measurement for broadcast companies, grew 11%, to $31.4 million, or $0.59 per share. Income before extraordinary item grew 13.6% to $21.7 million, or $0.40 per share. Revenues for the full year grew 22%, to $407.3 million; broadcast cash flow grew 26.2%, to $190.5 million. After-tax cash flow grew about 30%, to $96.1 million, or $1.79 per share. Income before extraordinary item grew 16.8% to $59.7 million, or $1.08 per share.

In order to provide “same-station” comparable results, the Company also presented pro forma results for its existing stations as though: • Its mid-year 1998 station swap with STC Broadcasting had occurred at the beginning of the year, • The merger between the Hearst Broadcasting Group and Argyle Television, completed on August 29, 1997, had occurred at the beginning of 1997, to provide better year-over-year comparisons.

On a pro forma basis for the full year, revenues grew about 5%, to $407.4 million. Broadcast cash flow rose 7.5%, to $190.3 million. After-tax cash flow grew 7.8%, to $97.9 million or $1.82 per share. Earnings per share on a pro forma basis grew 17.4%, to $1.08, from $0.92 in 1997. In addition, the Company presented pro forma results reflecting its acquisition of KCRA-TV and the time brokerage agreement for KQCA-TV, in Sacramento, which was completed on January 4, 1999, as well as its pending acquisition of the Pulitzer broadcast group, also expected to be completed within the first quarter of 1999.

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The following tables summarize the Company’s results.

Hearst-Argyle Only: (Please note: Prior-year figures are in left column; current year in right) Three Months Ended Dec. 31 ($ in millions, except per share data) Pro Forma GAAP – Reported Same-station 1997** 1998 Change 1997 1998 Change Total Revenues $ 112.4 $115.3 2.6 % $ 112.6 $ 115.3 2.4 % Broadcast Cash Flow* $ 56.1 $ 58.7 4.6 % $ 55.7 $ 58.7 5.4 % Operating Cash Flow* $ 53.1 $ 55.7 4.9 % $ 52.7 $ 55.7 5.7 % After-Tax Cash Flow* $ 28.3 $ 31.4 11 % $ 29.5 $ 31.0 5.1 % After-Tax Cash Flow/Share $ 0.55 $ 0.59 7.3% $ 0.56 $ 0.58 3.6 % Income bef.extra item $ 19.1 $ 21.7 13.6 % $ 19.5 $ 21.3 9.2 % Income per Shr $ 0.36 $ 0.40 11.1% $ 0.36 $ 0.40 11.1 % bef.extra item-diluted

*Definitions for Broadcast Cash Flow, Operating Cash Flow and After-tax Cash Flow are provided in the Notes to the accompanying financial tables. **The Company will present the “pre-merger” ( prior to September 1, 1997 -- the effective date of the merger of Argyle Television, Inc. and the broadcast group of The Hearst Corporation) financial results of the Hearst Broadcast Group rather than that of Argyle Television, Inc., which was the legal acquiror and registrant at the time.

(Please note: Prior-year figures are in left column; current year in right) Year Ended Dec. 31 ($ in millions, except per share data) Pro Forma GAAP – Reported Same-station 1997** 1998 Change 1997 1998 Change Total Revenues $333.7 $407.3 22 % $388.4 $407.4 4.9 % Broadcast Cash Flow $151.0 $190.5 26.2 % $177.0 $190.3 7.5% Operating Cash Flow $141.5 $177.9 25.7 % $164.4 $177.6 8 % After-Tax Cash Flow $ 74.1 $ 96.1 29.7 % $ 90.8 $ 97.9 7.8 % After-Tax Cash Flow/Share $ 1.66 $ 1.79 7.8% $ 1.69 $ 1.82 7.7 % Income bef.extra item $ 51.1 $ 59.7 16.8 % $ 50.8 $ 59.5 17.1 % Income per Share $ 1.13 $ 1.08 (4.4)% $ 0.92 $ 1.08 17.4 % bef.extra item-diluted

Pro Forma 3 Mos./Full Year Including Pulitzer, Kelly/Sacramento Stations: (Please note: Prior-year figures are in left column; current year in right) ($ in millions, except per share data)

3 Mos. Ended Dec. 31 Year Ended Dec. 31 1997 1998 Change 1997 1998 Change Total Revenues $194.0 $206.4 6.4 % $689.8 $731.0 6 % Broadcast Cash Flow $ 94.4 $ 106.6 12.9 % $312.6 $346.3 10.8 % Operating Cash Flow $ 90.4 $ 102.7 13.6 % $296.8 $330.5 11.4 % After-Tax Cash Flow $ 47.7 $ 51.8 8.6 % $152.8 $167.1 9.4 % After-Tax Cash Flow/Share $ 0.53 $ 0.57 7.5 % $ 1.68 $ 1.84 9.5 % Net Income $ 11.3 $ 19.8 75.2 % $ 21.7 $ 39.5 82 % Income per Share-diluted $ 0.12 $ 0.22 83.3 % $ 0.22 $ 0.42 90.9%

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The Company also announced that proxy materials in connection with its planned acquisition of the broadcast group of Pulitzer Publishing Co. have been mailed to the shareholders of both companies. The Company has scheduled a special shareholders’ meeting on March 17th to vote on the transaction, with closing expected by the end of that month.

“As these results would suggest, we are very excited about the prospect of completing the Pulitzer broadcast acquisition by the end of this quarter,” said Bob Marbut, Hearst-Argyle Television chairman and co-chief executive officer. “The pro forma results indicate that the Pulitzer and Kelly transactions combined are accretive by five cents -- $1.84 vs. $1.79 on an historical basis -- to our 1998 after-tax cash flow per share. Our broadcast cash flow margin for the year grew from 45% to nearly 47%, and the pro forma results including Pulitzer and Kelly raise our 1998 broadcast cash flow margin to 47.4%. Importantly, the Pulitzer transaction will result in roughly a doubling of Hearst-Argyle’s original public float, offering greater liquidity in our stock.”

“For the first quarter, our ad sales are pacing up by about 2%,” added John G. Conomikes, Hearst-Argyle Television president and co-chief executive officer. “We’re seeing strength among telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and fast foods. While we anticipated more modest growth this first quarter – due in part to a difficult comparison with our first quarter of 1998, during which revenues grew nearly 8% -- we are also seeing signs that advertiser interest is building for the second half of the year, led by millennium-related advertising.”

Commenting on other recent developments, David J. Barrett, Hearst-Argyle executive vice president and chief operating officer, added, • “During the fourth quarter, most of our large-market ABC and NBC stations, including those in Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Kansas City, took the No.1 share of local revenues, led by sales tied to their strong local news ratings; • “In the all-important November ‘sweeps’ ratings period, all our large-market ABC and NBC stations continued to outperform, or ‘overindex,’ their respective networks’ ratings in all key demographic categories; • “We managed to renew and to secure extensions on our agreements for carriage of Oprah, which has been highly successful in our markets; • “We acquired Regis & Kathie Lee for KCRA, Sacramento, where the show is enormously popular, in the first quarter shortly after completing our acquisition of the station; • “We established programming and sales commitments for millennium-related ad projects;

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Hearst-Argyle Fourth Quarter Results/4

• “Rebecca Kolls, host of Hearst-Argyle’s hit syndicated show Rebecca’s Garden, has added to her duties by being named a regular contributor on ABC’s . Her added role will raise the growing visibility of Rebecca’s Garden, which is produced and syndicated by Hearst-Argyle and appears throughout the country on broadcast stations and on Home & Garden Television; and • “We appointed some of the best executives in the business to manage our newest stations: Paul ‘Dino’ Dinovitz, who successfully ran KMBC-TV, Kansas City, has moved over to KCRA-TV/KQCA-TV, Sacramento, and has been succeeded at KMBC by Wayne Godsey, who was most recently with Pulitzer; Joe Heston, a talented veteran of our Pittsburgh and Baltimore stations, has moved over to KSBW- TV, Monterey; Paul Sands, a veteran of Pulitzer’s broadcast group, has moved to WPTZ-TV/WNNE-TV, Burlington/Plattsburgh; and Brent Hensley returned to KOCO-TV, City from KHBS-TV/KHOG in , where he is being succeeded by Jeff Bartlett, former news director at Chicago’s WBBM-TV.”

Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. currently owns and/or manages 17 network-affiliated television stations, and manages two radio stations, in geographically diverse U.S. markets. The Company’s television stations reach more than 12% of U.S. TV households, making it one of the largest non-network owned groups in the United States. The Company in May announced that it would acquire the nine television and five radio stations of Pulitzer Publishing Co., which would extend Hearst-Argyle’s U.S. TV household coverage to about 17.5%, making it one of the nation’s two largest independent TV station groups. The Pulitzer transaction has received all regulatory approvals and, subject to shareholder approvals and certain other conditions, is expected to close in the first quarter of 1999. Hearst-Argyle trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HTV.”

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward looking statements include the information concerning the Company’s advertising sales “pacing,” and those preceded by, followed by, or that include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “could,” or similar expressions. For these statements, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following important factors, among them, could affect the future results of the Company and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in each forward-looking statement: material adverse changes in economic conditions in the markets served by the Company; future regulatory actions and conditions in the television stations’ operating areas; and competition from others in the broadcast television markets served by the business.