Jamaya Powell

 

History

The Hearst Corporation started out as a single newspaper by William Randolf Hearst in 1887.[1]

Since then, the Hearst Corporation has grown to become one of the biggest media and information companies in the world. [2] Hearst incorporated broadcasting into its company in 1928, when they purchased WSOE radio in Milwaukee. The station also became the groundwork of WISN-TV. In 1948, after acquiring various stations across markets, Hearst launched WBAL-TV in Baltimore, WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, and WDSU-TV in New Orleans. These were some of the inaugural  television stations in the nation. In 1953, Baltimore’s WBAL-TV was one of the first television stations to transmit in color, as well as launching the famous children’s show “Romper Room,” [3] that ran from the early 1950s to the 1980s.  Throughout the years, Hearst Broadcasting acquired more broadcasting stations across various markets. In 1981, WCVB-TV in Boston was declared “the best television station in America” by the New York Times. Hearst Broadcasting acquired Argyle Television Inc., which owned six stations at the time, for $320 million dollars,[4] forming Hearst-Argyle in 1997.[2]

Here is a clip from the popular children’s TV show, Romper Room, as mentioned above. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq9-8ZxZ6_Y)

One of the Hearst-Argyle’s stations, WISN-TV in Milwaukee, was the first station within its market to create their very own website, based off its weather segment.The website, which was started in 1997, offers snow closing information, around the clock. In that same year, KITV-TV in Honolulu was the first American digital commercially licensed TV station, which meant that they could provide digital high-definition television or HDTV, for short. Television Broadcast magazine named KITV “Broadcaster of the Year” in 1997. Later in 1999, New England’s WCVB-TV station was the first stations, local and nationwide, to produce an high-definition (HD) TV episode. The TV episode was of its renowned public-affairs program “Chronicle.” [2]

That same year, the Hearst-Argyle company acquired the Pulitzer Publishing Co, which owned nine TV stations and five radio stations. They also bought the television properties to Kelly Broadcasting Co. out of Sacramento, California. By the end of the year 1999, Hearst-Argyle owned 26 TV stations, which reached about 17.5 percent of U.S. households, and they acquired seven radio stations. [2]

Hearst-Argyle became one of the first major station groups to release a policy about not airing R-rated movies during prime time television, which is also family viewing time. They announced this policy in 2000, which was a very busy year for the company. They also partnered with the Belo Corporation and LIN Television and launched Broadcast Sales Academy, in order to train future sales professionals and they later launched the Producer Academy in 2002, a training program for the companies’ news producers. Hearst-Argyle had a joint venture with Gannett Broadcasting, the NBC station group and NBC Enterprises to develop and carry syndicated programs on their stations, reaching 60% of U.S. households. Hearst-Argyle was also the first large TV station group to commit at least 5 minutes of on-air time every night to focus on election coverage, starting 30 days leading up to the elections. This charge became the foundation of the company’s “Commitment 2000” effort, which worked to provide comprehensive political-news coverage through the election cycles and this effort later earned them a consecutive number of Walter Cronkite Awards, awarded by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication. In 2004, the former president and CEO, David J. Barrett is named by Broadcasting & Cable magazine as “Broadcaster of the Year.” This year, every single Hearst-Argyle television station completed their transition into digital television broadcasting and some of them were the first to offer video on demand for local programming. [2]

In 2006, Hearst-Argyle partnered with North Carolina A&T University or NCAT for short, to train journalism students and it was one of many internship/ training programs partnerships the company has.[2]

Financials

Hearst Corporation is #33 of Forbes List of America’s Largest Private Companies and the company has produced over $10.3 billion in revenue. [5]

Key Executives

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entertainment & Syndication

Hearst Entertainment and Syndication is a combination of cable network partnerships, television programming activities, and newspaper syndication as well as merchandise licensing operations. Their brands include A&E Networks, Awesomeness TV, Complex, Cosmopolitan Television, ESPN, Hearst Digital Studios, Hearst Entertainment, King Features, NorthSouth Productions, Reed Brennan, and United Artists Media Group.[6]

 

One of their television brands, A&E Networks, is an award-winning, global media content company. It consists of three brands: A&E Network, HISTORY, and Lifetime. [6] Some of their most popular shows on A&E Networks are Duck Dynasty, Married At First Sight, Storage Wars, The First 48, and Intervention. [7]

 

 

 

 

United Arts Media Group

The United Arts Media Group creates programming for all media platforms offered by Hearst, including on screen, online and on-the-go. [8]

Current Programming

United Arts Media Group (UAMG) has created many popular programming including The Voice, Shark Tank, and Survivor. The Voice is currently in its 6th season and has crushed its show rival, American Idol, by having higher viewers and its ability to hold the attention of their key demographic of Americans aged 18-49.

 

Their other show, Shark Tank, is steadily growing in viewership and in the young adult segment. One of their oldest shows, Survivor, has an average of 9.5 million viewers and has just entered its 29th season. They also produced a feature film called Son of God, which generated $60 million in revenue through U.S. box office sales alone. The film also sold over 700,000 DVDs. [8]

Just this year, they released a follow-up program to the mini TV series, The Bible, called A.D., a 12-hour series that premiered on Easter. They also released a new game show on ABC called 500 Questions. FOX has purchased episodes of UAMG’s hit show, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? Due to the popularity of the original show, Shark Tank, they released a spin-off called Beyond The Tank, which follows up with the startup companies after they launch. They also teamed up with MGM and Paramount to create a remake of the movie, Ben-Hur. They also worked with Open Road to create the film, Little Boy. [8]

Works Cited

1. History. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
2. Hearst Television History. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
3. Romper Room. TV Party. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
4. Gilpin, Kenneth N. Hearst to Buy Argyle TV In a Rare Public Venture. The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 Mar. 1997. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
5. America’s Largest Private Companies. Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
6. A+E Networks. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
7. All Television Shows – A&E. AETV. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
8. Entertainment. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.
9. Unlock Your Highest Conversion Revenue. Bounce Exchange. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
10. William Randolph Hearst. Old Picture. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
11. Weekly News Update. Downtown Boston. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
12. STUDENT SCHEDULE. NCAT. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
13. Jordan Wertlieb. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
14. Frank Biancuzzo. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
15. Bios. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
16. Bios. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
17. Rodger Keating. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
18. Neeraj Khemlani. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
19. George Kliavkoff. Hearst. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
20. CosmoTV. Facebook. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
21. Gstatic. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
22. The Voice. NBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.