EXHIBIT 31.1

**CERTIFICATIONS**

**Certification of Chief Executive Officer and  President** 

I, David J. Barrett, certify that:

| 1.                 |     | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of      Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. (the “registrant”);                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
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| 2.                 |               | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any      untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary      to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such      statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered      by this report; |
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| 3.                 |               | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other        financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material        respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows        of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;                   |
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| 4.                 |               | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible        for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as        defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a -15(e) and 15d -15(e)) for the        registrant and have:                                                                   |

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        (a) Designed    such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls    and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material    information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries,    is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the    period in which this report is being prepared;

        (b) Evaluated    the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and    presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure    controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report    based on such evaluation; and

        (c) Disclosed    in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial    reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter    that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,    the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

| 5. |     | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed,      based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,      to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s      board of directors: |
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         (a) All significant    deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal    control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely    affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial    information; and

         (b) Any fraud,    whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have    a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Date: April 29, 2004 

|                                                       |    | /s/ DAVID J. BARRETTDavid J. BarrettChief Executive Officer and President |
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