Exhibit 31.2 

# CERTIFICATIONS  Certification of Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President

I, Harry T. Hawks, certify  that: 

| 1. | I have        reviewed this quarterly report 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; |
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|  |     (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 |
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|  |     (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 |
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| 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 |
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|  |     (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. |
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Date: July 29,  2004 

 By:/s/ HARRY      T. HAWKS   Harry      T. HawksChief Financial      Officer and Executive Vice President