SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- KTNC-TV 42, Pappas Telecasting Companies' Azteca America affiliate in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose and Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto Designated Market Areas (DMAs), today announced that it has initiated a free Spanish-language text message service for its viewers via TextCaster(r) software. The new feature, "Alertas Movil de KTNC," is the first text service to offer AMBER Alerts in Spanish.
"Alertas Movil de KTNC" delivers news and program-oriented text messages in Spanish, including AMBER Alerts, weather, soccer headlines, Super Lotto numbers, KTNC programming, traffic reports, the latest news, and special offers. Viewers may sign up for this free service by visiting http://www.ktnc.com, then clicking the "Alertas Movil de KTNC" link. Using industry leading software powered by TextCaster(r), KTNC text messages instantly reach the mobile phones of viewers who opt-in.
In making the announcement, Rosemary Danon, Vice President/Online and New Media of Pappas Telecasting, said, "We are tremendously excited to offer this new service to our Spanish-speaking viewers in Northern California. Cell phone ownership has reached nearly 70% of the U.S. population - over 180 million users - and we expect cell phones to be an important link in the information chain. 'Alertas Movil de KTNC' should be a powerful tool to help keep the public informed and entertained."
Fernando Acosta, Vice President/Hispanic Station Group of Pappas Telecasting Companies and General Manager of KTNC-TV 42, added, "'Alertas Movil de KTNC' gives our viewers an opportunity to keep up-to-date on issues that affect them the most. We're especially proud of being able to disseminate something as important as AMBER Alerts in Spanish using this new technology."
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which championed the development of AMBER Alert plans throughout the United States, describes AMBER Alerts as "emergency messages broadcast primarily via radio and television, and in some areas post(ed) on electronic highway signs, when law enforcement determines that a child has been abducted and is in imminent danger. The broadcasts include information about the child and the abductor, such as physical descriptions, as well as information about the abductor's vehicle, which could lead to the child's recovery and the apprehension of the suspect."
The AMBER Alert notifications offered by KTNC are of particular significance, especially when considering that time is of the essence in child abduction cases. A study released by the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Washington reported that, while murders of abducted children are rare events, "74 percent of abducted children who are murdered are dead within three hours of the abduction." Getting information out to the public as soon as possible is vital. The California Highway Patrol, which is the agency responsible for statewide coordination of AMBER Alerts in California, reports that it has issued 76 AMBER Alerts since 2002. During this time, 101 children have been safely recovered in the state due to the alerts.
Pappas Telecasting previously announced plans to offer text-messaging service at KPTM-TV/Omaha, Nebraska, KMPH-TV/Fresno, California, KDBC-TV/El Paso, Texas, KSWT-TV/Yuma, Arizona, and KHGI-TV/Lincoln-Hastings-Kearney, Nebraska.
About KTNC-TV
KTNC-TV/Channel 42 is an affiliate of Azteca America, a television network serving the burgeoning U.S. Hispanic population. The network benefits from the vast programming resources of TV Azteca, the second-largest producer of Spanish-language programming in the world. The station's full-power transmitter is uniquely situated atop Mount Diablo, 3,620 feet above sea level, giving it the ability to cover both the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose and Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto DMAs, the eighth- and fifteenth-largest Hispanic markets in the U.S., respectively. KTNC is licensed to Pappas Telecasting of Concord, an affiliated company of Pappas Telecasting Companies, the largest privately held, commercial television broadcast group in the United States.