Nicholas Stevens Named Managing Director, International Networks for Hearst Entertainment & Syndication

NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 15, 2007 --International media executive Nicholas Stevens has been named managing director, international networks for Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, focusing on the international expansion of the Cosmopolitan Television franchise. The announcement was made by Bruce L. Paisner, executive vice president, Hearst Entertainment & Syndication. Most recently, Stevens was a co-founder and principal of Renova Media Enterprises, a private equity media investment company based in Moscow.

Cosmopolitan Television is a new 24-hour cable/satellite channel concept for young women, inspired by the world famous magazine. The channel offers dramas, comedies, movies and inspirational and self-help reality programs for the target audience, with the schedule in each country tailored to local tastes and needs. Cosmopolitan Television currently operates in Spain (www.cosmopolitan.es), Mexico and all of South America (www.cosmopolitan.tv), reaching 12 million households, with several new channels in development. Among the programs featured on the various channels are "Sex and the City," "Ugly Betty," "Charmed," top theatrical movies, and original productions on relationships, sex, fashion, beauty, and elegant lifestyles. Each channel's ongoing series on male calendar models is locally popular.

Commenting on the news, Paisner said: "We launched Cosmopolitan Television in Spain several years ago as an experiment in extending the enduring and popular Cosmopolitan brand to the television medium. We are so pleased with the results of that channel and our more recent launch of Cosmopolitan Television in Latin America that we are going to take this franchise to other international markets. With Nick's international and media transaction background, he will be a key player in that effort."

Since 2004, Stevens was a senior executive at Renova Media Enterprises where he successfully executed a roll-up and consolidation of broadband cable TV and internet businesses in Russia and former republics of the Soviet Union. Prior to his work at Renova, Stevens held positions in private equity with GE Capital and Toronto Dominion Bank, where he executed and managed direct investments in media and communications businesses in the U.S. and Europe. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Cosmopolitan Television Latin America premiered in July 2002 to five million subscribers, the largest cable network launch ever in Latin America. Hearst and PRAMER SCA, a subsidiary of Liberty Media International (LMI), are equal partners in the channel. In Spain, Cosmopolitan Television Iberia launched in 2000 and is that country's top-rated network for young women.

Hearst Entertainment & Syndication is a unit of Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com), one of the nation's largest diversified media companies. Its major interests include 12 daily newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, and Albany Times Union; 33 weekly newspapers; nearly 200 magazines around the world, including Cosmopolitan and O, The Oprah Magazine; 29 television stations through Hearst-Argyle Television (NYSE: HTV) which reach a combined 18% of U.S. viewers; ownership in leading cable networks, including Lifetime, A&E, The History Channel and ESPN; as well as business publishing, including a joint venture interest in Fitch Ratings; Internet businesses, television production, newspaper features distribution and real estate.

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