1999
WCVB-TV, Boston, devotes more than 36 hours of live coverage of the tragic John F. Kennedy, Jr., plane crash.

Following a WPBF-TV (West Palm Beach, FL) news probe, revealing that area schools are unprepared for tornado threats, Palm Beach County schools change policies to strictly enforce tornado drills. This and similar efforts earn the station a rare honor by the National Weather Association.

KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City, broadcasts 27 hours of non-stop coverage of the area's devastating May tornadoes and later coordinates a drive filling 12 semi trailers with food and clothing for victims. Using the station's prominent weather-forecasting brand, KOCO also launches the innovative WeatherWarn service, which notifies mobile customers of looming weather events via pager alerts.

2000
Hearst-Argyle becomes the first of the largest TV station groups to announce that it will commit a minimum of five minutes' airtime nightly to election coverage in the 30 days leading up to elections. The pledge becomes a cornerstone of the company's "Commitment 2000" effort to provide comprehensive political-news coverage throughout election cycles, an effort that goes on to feature debates hosted or co-hosted by network journalists including NBC's Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw and ABC's Ted Koppel, and to earn successive Walter Cronkite Awards from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

The KansasCityChannel.com, the Internet Broadcasting-hosted website of KMBC-TV (Kansas City, MO) offers exclusive live footage, provided from a Web camera mounted at the Kansas City Zoo, of the birth of a rare, endangered East African Black Rhino. The view, dubbed "Rhino Cam," proves a major draw to the station's website and an early example of TV-Web "convergence."

WDSU-TV, New Orleans, receives praise from veterans' groups nationwide for its exclusive, live coverage of the National D-Day Museum's day-long opening and dedication in New Orleans. The station produces a tape of the day's highlights with all proceeds from the tape's sale benefiting the museum.

KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, brings New Mexico viewers 52 hours of non-stop coverage of the massive Los Alamos fire. KOAT's Sky 7 helicopter feeds the only live aerial shots aired internationally, via CNN. KOAT's relief efforts bring in more than 75 tons of food and supplies and raises more than $300,000 in cash donations.

WAPT-TV, Jackson, MS, unveils Live Pinpoint Doppler 16, the most powerful radar system in Mississippi, where more people have been killed by tornadoes during the last half-century than any other state. WAPT continues a tradition in which Hearst-Argyle stations, such as KHBS-TV/KHOG-TV, Fort Smith/Fayetteville, AR, are the first in their markets with valuable Doppler forecasting technology.

2001
A WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, PA, investigation sparks a national crackdown on a financial "pyramid" scheme, earning a Golden Quill Award and a regional Emmy nomination.

An eight-month investigation by WESH-TV, Orlando, FL, into area day-care providers prompts legislation to change systems for managing complaints and informing parents.

KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City, secures the only local correspondence, a written "Q&A," with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

The Hearst-Argyle Washington, DC, news bureau secures the first post-election sit-down interview, of any independent TV station group, with Vice President Cheney.

KCRA-TV, Sacramento, is first on-air with the widely displayed photo of former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit and murder victim Chandra Levy.

Hearst-Argyle partners with Loral to create HATSat, a dedicated satellite service allowing the Washington news bureau and all Hearst-Argyle stations to share stories.

WCVB-TV, Boston, breaks the first, exclusive, pictures and reports of the 9/11 terrorists' rental car found at Boston's Logan Airport. The WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, coverage of the crash of 9/11 Flight 93 in Pennsylvania eventually earns Emmy and National Headliner Awards. Other East Coast Hearst-Argyle stations secure leading news coverage of various aspects of the 9/11 story pertaining to their regions. Hearst-Argyle stations collectively help raise more than $22 million for 9/11 relief efforts, through telethons and other projects.

2002
KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City, creates the state's largest weather "convergence" news effort, in concert with five area radio stations and the Oklahoma News Network, serving 42 stations statewide.

The WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, PA, coverage of the rescue of the trapped Quecreek miners earns national attention and more viewers than any area station, and goes on to earn a National Headliner Award.


The WBAL-TV, Baltimore, coverage of the "Beltway Sniper" story earns market-leading audience levels and is shared nationally with other Hearst-Argyle stations, via HATSat, and with the NBC Network.

KCRA-TV, serving the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto TV market, leads the market with its coverage of the disappearance of Modesto resident Laci Peterson. During the subsequent murder trial of husband Scott Peterson, KCRA innovatively uses instant-messaging for its reporter to feed updates from the courtroom to the newsroom.

2003
News crews from various Hearst-Argyle stations head to sections of the Middle East to cover the Iraq War.

A WBAL-TV (Baltimore, MD) investigation into the mortgage-servicing business inspires similar investigations by other Hearst-Argyle stations, an effort which collectively sparks action by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and legislation sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) leading to changes in industry practices. WBAL-TV later receives an award for its reporting from the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

A WISN-TV, Milwaukee, WI, probe of the effectiveness of home smoke alarms spurs improvements in detection standards and earns a coveted Peabody Award.

WESH-TV, Orlando, FL, provides around-the-clock coverage of the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, including reports on-site from Cape Canaveral. The station's reporting goes on to earn a coveted du Pont-Columbia Journalism Award.

A joint investigation by WESH-TV and the Orlando Sentinel into Central Florida homebuilding, entitled "Building Homes: Building Problems," spurs statewide industry scrutiny and goes on to earn a prestigious Peabody Award.

East Coast Hearst-Argyle stations provide market-leading, around-the-clock coverage of the impact of Hurricane Isabel in their areas, sharing their reports with Hearst-Argyle stations around the country via HATSat.

The Hearst-Argyle Television Washington, DC, news bureau secures an interview with President Bush and supplies the "pool" camera crew for other broadcast groups to conduct their own presidential interviews later that day. The Hearst-Argyle interview goes on to make national news, with coverage in most major national newspapers and broadcast news networks.

WLWT-TV, Cincinnati, OH, secures an exclusive interview with controversial former Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose.

KCRA-TV, Sacramento, provides live, election-night coverage of California's gubernatorial recall; the coverage is carried by C-SPAN.

WAPT-TV, Jackson, MS, secures the first interview with Thomas Hamill, the American worker who had recently escaped terrorist captivity in Iraq.

2004
The Internet Broadcasting "network" of local-TV-oriented websites earns record traffic for coverage of major 2004 weather events, including hurricane updates. The IBS network reaches the top-tier of national news-and-information web providers, as measured by Nielsen, regularly earning more than 10 million monthly unique users and frequently besting all national newspaper websites and most TV-network websites in this key measurement.

A number of Hearst-Argyle stations, in conjunction with local cable system operators, become the first, if not only, stations in their markets to make local prgramming available to viewers via video-on-demand (VOD).

WYFF-TV, Greenville-Spartanburg, SC, produces a U.S. Senate debate simulcast nationally on C-SPAN and co-produces a Democratic primary debate simulcast on MSNBC.

NBCOlympics.com, developed by NBC in conjunction with its affiliates and with Internet Broadcasting, achieves record traffic for an Olympics website, attracting 230 million pageviews from 12 million unique visitors, all within a 16-day period surrounding the Athens games.

KCCI-TV, Des Moines, a leader in coverage of the quadrennial Iowa presidential caucuses, earns its first-ever national Edward R. Murrow Award, from the Radio-Television News Directors Association.

WMUR-TV, Manchester, NH, acquired by Hearst-Argyle in 2001 and the flagship station of the quadrennial New Hampshire presidential primary, provides record levels of news coverage of the presidential election and achieves record ratings.

Teresa Heinz Kerry's famous "shove it!" remark to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter at the Democratic Convention is captured exclusively by a WTAE-TV (Pittsburgh) camera crew and is subsequently telecast nationwide over all the major broadcast and cable news networks.

WBAL-TV's examination of pollution in Chesapeake Bay spurs environmental action and goes on to win a Peabody Award, the third in a row for a Hearst-Argyle station.

2005
Weather Plus, developed jointly by Hearst-Argyle and NBC along with other NBC affiliate groups, marks the first series of local weather channels using the latest forecasting technology used by local broadcasters, and and also marks one of the first uses of digital television broadcast spectrum for new services.

KOAT-TV gets the "scoop" on famous "runaway bride" Jennifer Wilbanks' mysterious arrival in Albuquerque, breaking the news before all other local and national media outlets. KOAT subsequently provides live reports for CNN and ABC.

KETV, channel 7, Omaha, launches "7 to Go" wireless service to cell phones, offering news, weather and sports updates, movie information, stock quotes and other services to mobile information-seekers.