September 5th, 2008

MEDIA RELEASE

                                September 4, 2008 

CHANNEL 13’S RV-TV TAKES THE SHOW ON THE ROAD

Channel 13 Sports Team to camp in 5 Iowa towns on their way to the Iowa/ISU Football Game

Team to make stops in Ames, Marshalltown, Newton, Oskaloosa and Iowa City

Big Coverage of Iowa’s Super Bowl live on Channel 13 News at 5, 6, &10 PM starting Monday

DES MOINES, IA – What event is so big that four TV sports guys would work and live in RV’s for a week?  The answer is the big Iowa vs. Iowa State interstate football rivalry.  WHO-TV announced today that RV-TV, the station’s week-long Iowa/I-State tailgate party, is taking a road trip this year.  The award-winning Channel 13 Sports Team will make overnight stops in Ames, Marshalltown, Newton, and Oskaloosa on their way to Iowa City for the big game on Saturday, September 13^th.  WHO-TV’s RV-TV coverage can be seen on Channel 13 News at 5, 6, & 10 PM starting Monday.

In addition to Hawkeye-Cyclone pregame coverage from Ames and Iowa City, RV-TV will also include a significant Web presence including a mountain of stats and facts about the rivalry and a special RV-TV blog and pictures located on the sports page at www.WHOTV.com.  If past years are an indicator, look for blog updates between 11 P.M. and 3 A.M. each day.

Here is RV-TV’s exact location in each of the Iowa towns we’re visiting:

·       Monday 9/8 Ames – Jack Trice Stadium – SE Corner

·       Tuesday 9/9 Marshalltown – Town Square

·       Wednesday 9/10 Newton – Iowa Speedway

·       Thursday 9/11 Oskaloosa – Town Square

·       Friday 9/12 Iowa City – Across from Kinnick Stadium

Channel 13 Sports Director Keith Murphy is a veteran of RV-TV—this will be his sixth— and he couldn’t be more excited about it.  Well, that might be stretching it.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase our state’s biggest rivalry for the fans.  For us, it’s a chance to eat junk food, watch movies late at night, and live like slobs.  In other words, a lot like any other week” says Murphy.  “Plus, Andy’s back this year.  The main reason he left Kansas City is how much he missed living in an RV.”

In addition to Murphy and Fales, Channel 13 Sports reporters Chris Hassel and Shawn Terrell will be camping out while covering the big game.

“I can’t wait,” says Andy Fales.  “A week of no sleep, fast food, kybos, and Murphy walking around in his robe.  I’m not sure I want to know anybody I work with that well.  Thank goodness Zabel said ‘No’.”

Channel 13’s 2007 RV-TV coverage earned the station a “Best Sports Coverage” award from the Iowa Associated Press.  Previous RV-TV broadcasts included lots of fun and surprises including stuffing an entire college pep band in an RV bedroom, cheerleaders, hot tubs and a live wake-up call from the ISU Marching Band.

“I’m still not over that last one.,” snipes Murphy.  “This year, it should be more tolerable. We’re making Chris Hassel shower daily, live in his own mini-RV, and refrain from eating Funyons the entire week.”

“Joking aside, we all love it,” Murphy adds. “We get to meet people, tell stories, and hype the biggest day in sports each year.  RV-TV could only work this well in Iowa.”

For more information contact:

Tim Gardner, Director of Creative Services

515-242-3611

About WHO-TV Channel 13

WHO-TV Channel 13, owned by Local TV LLC, is celebrating 54 years of broadcast service to central Iowa.  Channel 13 News prides itself on bringing viewers rich, local content that other stations won’t commit to.  From exclusive investigations to ground-breaking, creative coverage of the big daily story, Channel 13 News lives up to its word of “See the Difference.”

Channel 13 News has won the most prestigious awards in the broadcast industry.  In 2008, Channel 13 News earned 11 Eric Sevareid Journalism Awards, the most of any Iowa station, including 4 First Place awards for “Best Newscast”, “Series”, ”Hard Feature”, and “Sportscast.”.  In 2007, WHO-TV earned a coveted  Emmy and regional Edward R. Murrow awards for “Best Newscast” plus two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for “Best Newscast” and “Sports Reporting”, six Eric Sevareid journalism awards from the Northwest Broadcast News Association for “Investigative” and “Spot News” reporting and eight “First Place” awards from the Iowa Associated Press.   In 2006, the station earned the coveted national Edward R. Murrow for “Best Newscast and veteran anchor John Bachman was inducted into the National Television Academy’s “Silver Circle” for an accomplished career in broadcasting.

The technological leader, WHO-TV Channel 13 was the first to use videotape, the first to broadcast from news events live, the first live Doppler radar, first commercial high-definition television broadcast, and first high-definition local news segment.  Now, WHO-TV operates central Iowa’s first and only news helicopter, Chopper 13, and the most powerful and sophisticated live Doppler radar in Iowa with MEGA Doppler.

Local TV LLC is a broadcast holding company created in 2007 to acquire nine heritage television stations in eight mid­sized markets.  In 2008, the company acquired eight Fox Affiliates previously owned by News Corporation.  Local TV is owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners, management and a consortium of bankers and high yield lenders who drank the Kool-Aid and are as enthusiastic about our future as we are.  Stay tuned.

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August 28th, 2008

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release

August 28, 2008

“CHANNEL 13 NEWS AT 9 ON FOX 17” TO PREMIERE SEPTEMBER 2^nd

New 60 minute 9pm Newscast to premiere Tuesday, September 2nd

Program anchored by Lynn Melling, Meteorologist Ed Wilson and Sports Director Keith Murphy

WHO-TV welcomes four new employees from KDSM news staff

DES MOINES, IA – “Channel 13 News at 9 on Fox 17” will premiere with its hour-long newscast this Tuesday night, September 2^nd, at 9pm on KDSM Fox 17.  The newscast will be anchored by long-time weekend evening anchor Lynn Melling, veteran Chief Meteorologist Ed Wilson and award-winning Sports Director Keith Murphy. 

On July 9^th, WHO-TV (NBC 13) and KDSM-TV (FOX 17) announced an agreement in which WHO-TV will produce a newscast on KDSM.  The newscast will air 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM Monday through Friday and from 9:00 PM to 9:30 PM Saturday and Sunday. 

“We’re excited about expanding the “Channel 13 News” brand and taking this product to the next level,” says Regional Vice President and General Manager of WHO-TV, Dale R. Woods.  “This is a tremendous new opportunity to service central Iowa viewers.”

“KDSM FOX 17 is excited to extend the current half hour of local news coverage for our viewers to an hour-long newscast on weeknights,” said Mike Wilson, General Manager for KDSM.  “With the Channel 13 news team and resources we will be able to bring Central Iowa great coverage and more in-depth stories of local community news, sports and weather.” 

WHO-TV is also welcoming 4 members from the KDSM News team to Channel 13 News:  Reporter Elias Johnson, producer MaCay Wiesemann, photojournalist Brandon Bingham, and editor Chad Dormer.  Johnson will primarily report for “Channel 13 News at 9 on Fox 17” while Wiesemann will be the weekday producer of the newscast. 

“We feel fortunate to have such talented individuals joining our news team that have real day-to-day experience producing a 9pm Newscast,” says WHO-TV News Director Rod Peterson.  “We will draw on that experience as we put this new newscast on the air.”

About the Anchor Team

Lynn Melling joined the Channel 13 News team in 2005 and has anchored weekend evenings and report 3 days a week. She came to the station from KTUU-TV in Anchorage, AK where she was anchoring their weekend newscasts and reporting during the week.

Prior to Alaska, Melling was a reporter at WBOC-TV in Salisbury, MD. She graduated with a broadcast journalism, international studies and Spanish triple major from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, in May 2001.  While in college, she interned at WCCO-TV, KSTP-TV and WMNN news radio in Minneapolis.

Melling is an accomplished journalist earning first place honors in investigative reporting from SPJ Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism as well as first place awards for Breaking News and News Feature from the Alaska Press Club.  She spent her junior year of college studying in Madrid and traveling around the rest of Europe.  While studying abroad, she spoke Spanish for a live talk-radio show once a week.

Chief Meteorologist Ed Wilson is a 20 year veteran of WHO-TV and has spent his career forecasting Iowa weather.  Wilson grew up in Grundy Center, Iowa where he and his meteorologist grandfather studied Iowa storm systems when Wilson was a child.  Those early experiences led him to the profession he loves - predicting Iowa weather on a daily basis.  Ed got his start at KIMT-TV in Mason City before coming to WHO-TV in 1988.  Ed earned his Certificate of Meteorology from Mississippi State University.

Sports Director Keith Murphy came to WHO-TV 13 in the summer of 1996 and has truly changed the way central Iowans perceive “sports”.  It isn’t just sports with Keith, it’s also fun.  Even the non-sports fans enjoy Keith’s genuine wit, cutting edge writing and unconventional delivery.  In addition to anchoring at 6 & 10, Keith also hosts and produce central Iowa’s the only TV sports call-in show, “Sound Off with Keith Murphy”, every Sunday night at 10:35pm.  It’s a show where the fans have a voice and is both informative and very entertaining, even for non-sports enthusiasts.

Previously to WHO-TV, Murphy was Sports Director at WOI-TV in Ames where in addition to anchoring sportscasts, he also did the play-by-play for all Iowa State Cyclone basketball games.

About WHO-TV Channel 13

WHO-TV Channel 13, owned by Local TV LLC, is celebrating 54 years of broadcast service to central Iowa.  Channel 13 News prides itself on bringing viewers rich, local content that other stations won’t commit to.  From exclusive investigations to ground-breaking, creative coverage of the big daily story, Channel 13 News lives up to its word of “See the Difference.”

Local TV LLC is a broadcast holding company created in 2007 to acquire nine heritage television stations in eight mid­sized markets.  In 2008, the company acquired eight Fox Affiliates previously owned by News Corporation.  Local TV is owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners, management and a consortium of bankers and high yield lenders who drank the Kool-Aid and are as enthusiastic about our future as we are.  Stay tuned.

About KDSM Fox 17

KDSM-TV is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI), one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies, which owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 58 television stations in 35 markets.  Sinclair’s television group is affiliated with all major networks and reaches approximately 22% of all U.S. television households.  For more information, please visit Sinclair’s website at www.sbgi.net.

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August 22nd, 2008

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release

August 22, 2008

CHANNEL 13 TO OFFER LIVE UPDATED PREP SCORE BOARD ON MULTIPLE PLATFORMS

First in state system to offer live Iowa prep scores updated at every score and quarter change

Live updated high school scores available on cell phones, internet and WHO-DT 13.2

Partnership with Iowa Sports Connection and latest technology insures getting the most scores FIRST

DES MOINES, IA – WHO-TV, in partnership with the Iowa Sports Connection, has introduced the next generation of high school sports scoring with the Live Prep Scoreboard, the first of its kind in Iowa.  The new system makes live updated prep scores available anytime, anywhere.  Scores will be updated with any score and quarter change and simultaneously distributed to three live platforms:

1.       On web-enabled cell phones at www.13now.com

2.       On the sports page at www.WHOtv.com and www.iowasportsconnection.com

3.       Continuously over-the-air on Iowa’s Weather Plus, Digital Channel 13.2 or Mediacom Digital 246

“This is something we’ve seen at the college and professional arena for years and now we’ve found a way to do it at the high school level,” says WHO-TV Regional Vice President and General Manager Dale R. Woods.  “With this new technology, it’s possible for someone sitting in the stands to obtain an live update instantly from any other game in the area.  It’s simply remarkable.”

“We’ve combined our network of Friday Night Live reporters and stringers with this new technology so be able to bring Iowans the most scores first,” says Iowa Sports Connection President Mike Rickord.  “Now, we’re able to report a score using the internet with just a cell phone and instantly have that score updated in the system and distributed on multiple platforms.”

The Live Prep Scoreboard will also now make it possible for press boxes all over central Iowa to have updated prep scores to announce to their fans when they tune to Digital Channel 13.2.

Channel 13’s Live Prep Scoreboard starts its live reporting with a few games on Thursday, August 28^th and a full-slate of Week 1 games on Friday, August 29^th.

For more information contact:

Dale R. Woods, WHO-TV Regional VP and General Manager

515-242-3701

About WHO-TV Channel 13

WHO-TV Channel 13, owned by Local TV LLC, is celebrating 54 years of broadcast service to central Iowa.  Channel 13 News prides itself on bringing viewers rich, local content that other stations won’t commit to.  From exclusive investigations to ground-breaking, creative coverage of the big daily story, Channel 13 News lives up to its word of “See the Difference.”

Channel 13 News has won the most prestigious awards in the broadcast industry including 2007 Emmy and regional Edward R. Murrow awards for “Best Newscast” plus two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for “Best Newscast” and “Sports Reporting”, six Eric Sevareid journalism awards from the Northwest Broadcast News Association for “Investigative” and “Spot News” reporting and eight “First Place” awards from the Iowa Associated Press.   In 2006, the station earned the coveted national Edward R. Murrow for “Best Newscast and veteran anchor John Bachman was inducted into the National Television Academy’s “Silver Circle” for an accomplished career in broadcasting.  In 2008, Channel 13 News has already earned 11 Eric Sevareid Journalism Awards, the most of any Iowa station, including 4 First Place awards for “Best Newscast”, “Series”, ”Hard Feature”, and “Sportscast.”

The technological leader, WHO-TV Channel 13 was the first to use videotape, the first to broadcast from news events live, the first live Doppler radar, first commercial high-definition television broadcast, and first high-definition local news segment.  Now, WHO-TV operates central Iowa’s first and only news helicopter, Chopper 13, and the most powerful and sophisticated live Doppler radar in Iowa with MEGA Doppler.

Local TV LLC is a broadcast holding company created in 2007 to acquire nine heritage television stations in eight mid­sized markets.  In 2008, the company acquired eight Fox Affiliates previously owned by News Corporation.  Local TV is owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners, management and a consortium of bankers and high yield lenders who drank the Kool-Aid and are as enthusiastic about our future as we are.  Stay tuned.

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August 22nd, 2008

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release

August 22, 2008

WHO-TV TO CONDUCT MARKET’S FIRST DIGITAL TELEVISION CONVERSION TEST

Test to be held Monday, August 25^th from 5am to midnight

Televisions that currently receive WHO-TV over-the-air analog to receive special message

Viewers that pass the test will not be impacted

DES MOINES, IA – WHO-TV will conduct central Iowa’s first digital television conversion test this Monday, August 25^th from 5am to midnight. The purpose of the test is to give viewers an early indication if televisions in their home will pass or fail after next February’s government-mandated conversion to digital television.

Televisions that currently receive WHO-TV via the analog over-the-signal will receive a special message informing them of the D-TV Test and where to obtain information on how to pass future tests. Viewers that pass the test will not be impacted including those that watch WHO-TV via Mediacom cable, DISH Network, Direct TV and over-the-air via WHO-DT, the stations digital signal.

“We feel it is important to help our viewers be as prepared as possible for this transition in television,“ says WHO-TV Regional Vice President and General Manager Dale R. Woods. “We wanted a way to break-through the clutter of informational messages and really target those people who we know it will impact.”

The station is also gearing up it’s switchboard that day to inform concerned viewers who are receiving our test about where they can obtain additional information.

About the Digital Television Conversion

By law, full-power television stations nationwide must stop using the old method of transmitting TV signals known as analog and begin broadcasting exclusively in a digital format on February 17, 2009. Digital television (DTV) is an innovative type of broadcasting technology that will give you crystal-clear pictures and sound, and more programming choices than ever before. DTV makes it possible for stations to broadcast multiple channels of free programming all at once (called multicasting), instead of broadcasting one channel at a time. DTV technology can also be used to deliver future interactive video and data services that analog technology can’t provide.

While the benefits of DTV are remarkable, thousands of central Iowa households risk losing television reception unless they take the easy steps to receive a digital signal. The best resource for answers through the transition is www.dtvanswers.com.

For more information contact:

Dale R. Woods, WHO-TV Regional VP and General Manager

515-242-3701

About WHO-TV Channel 13

WHO-TV Channel 13, owned by Local TV LLC, is celebrating 54 years of broadcast service to central Iowa. Channel 13 News prides itself on bringing viewers rich, local content that other stations won’t commit to. From exclusive investigations to ground-breaking, creative coverage of the big daily story, Channel 13 News lives up to its word of “See the Difference.”

Channel 13 News has won the most prestigious awards in the broadcast industry including 2007 Emmy and regional Edward R. Murrow awards for “Best Newscast” plus two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for “Best Newscast” and “Sports Reporting”, six Eric Sevareid journalism awards from the Northwest Broadcast News Association for “Investigative” and “Spot News” reporting and eight “First Place” awards from the Iowa Associated Press. In 2006, the station earned the coveted national Edward R. Murrow for “Best Newscast and veteran anchor John Bachman was inducted into the National Television Academy’s “Silver Circle” for an accomplished career in broadcasting. In 2008, Channel 13 News has already earned 11 Eric Sevareid Journalism Awards, the most of any Iowa station, including 4 First Place awards for “Best Newscast”, “Series”, ”Hard Feature”, and “Sportscast.”

The technological leader, WHO-TV Channel 13 was the first to use videotape, the first to broadcast from news events live, the first live Doppler radar, first commercial high-definition television broadcast, and first high-definition local news segment. Now, WHO-TV operates central Iowa’s first and only news helicopter, Chopper 13, and the most powerful and sophisticated live Doppler radar in Iowa with MEGA Doppler.

Local TV LLC is a broadcast holding company created in 2007 to acquire nine heritage television stations in eight mid­sized markets. In 2008, the company acquired eight Fox Affiliates previously owned by News Corporation. Local TV is owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners, management and a consortium of bankers and high yield lenders who drank the Kool-Aid and are as enthusiastic about our future as we are. Stay tuned.

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Press Contact:

Pam Taylor

859-331-9100