About Hearst
Hearst Television is overseen by the recently private Hearst Corp, and operates 29 television stations and two radio stations across the United States. Their broadcast groups are largely tied to ABC and NBC, and have affiliates in markets from Portland, Maine to Hawaii. In a letter from Hearst Corp’s CEO, Frank Bennack Jr., to the company regarding their 125th anniversary, he mentioned that Hearst’s “24/7 reach extends to more than 100 countries and [their] voice speaks in over 35 languages.” The television group has mostly medium market stations and a handful of stations in small markets. At any rate, there is a heavy news influence on stations, as most are intended to be number one or number two in news consistently, and the vast majority are. Hearst’s biggest television station is WCVB in Boston, an ABC affiliate that is recognized consistently as one of the best in the country and is currently number one in all news categories for their market. The company is making a concerted effort to become the most digitally viable television group, and WCVB’s new app is the new platform look for the company’s future endeavors in applications.
POLITICAL COVERAGE: COMMITMENT 2012
Their stations are very well known for their political coverage, and have been recognized for their excellence in political journalism consistently by winning all five Walter Cronkite Awards since the award was created ten years ago. Hearst has stations in twelve markets identified as closely divided swing states in this year’s election, and is poised to continue to be very involved in the political discussion for years to come. Their new initiative will dedicate 150 hours total to political coverage in the month preceding the election, and they are innovating in how they accomplish this. This initiative is called Commitment 2012, and renews efforts that have been implemented since Commitment 2000. They have also partnered with Politifact, which is a project by the Tampa Bay Times to “help you find the truth in Washington and the Obama Presidency,” exemplifying an effort to remain at the cutting edge of reliability and the commitment to the fact-based reporting that they have pledged for years. With stations like WMUR in Manchester, NH, which is the leading news station in the market with the first national Republican primary that took place recently, Hearst is primed to take advantage of their political prowess. They are seeking to build from their wildly successful efforts in the 2008 elections, when their group coverage of the elections won them their fifth Peabody Awards – which recognizes exceptional public service by radio and television stations – in seven years. As political races heat up, changes will continue to be implemented and stations will be primed to fire on all cylinders.
INNOVATION AT HEARST
Recently, in an effort to merge with the digital revolution that is taking hold in the television industry, Hearst has worked to revamp the structure of their websites and launch new, state of the art apps to ease user experience. They recently partnered with ConnecTV, a social television platform that promotes a uniquely interactive user-television experience, and are preparing to launch it in a number of Hearst’s markets. They are in the process of figuring out the best way to approach the mobile spectrum – as ABC has not yet partnered with their affiliates on mobile ventures – while NBC has been. In terms of sales, all of Hearst TV’s stations have been partnered with the sales rep firm, Eagle of Katz, until recently, when 1/3 of the stations moved to a new rep firm, HRP.
Company Structure
In June of 2009, what was formerly known as Hearst Argyle became the Hearst Corporation as Hearst bought all of the stock in the company that they did not previously own. As it stands now, the President and CEO of Hearst Television, David Barrett, and Jordan Wertlieb, Executive VP, will oversee the continuing changes to this privately owned sector of Hearst Corp.