FRESNO, Calif., June 29, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- KMPH-TV/Channel 26, Pappas Telecasting Companies' FOX affiliate in the Fresno-Visalia, California Designated Market Area (DMA), today announced that it has initiated a free text message service for its viewers via TextCaster(r) software. The new feature, "KMPH FOX 26 First Alert News," delivers news and program-oriented text messages to cell phones, including breaking news alerts and national security alerts, a daily AM weather forecast, traffic alerts from Heidi Watney, information on KMPH FOX 26 contests and promotions, daily stock market closing information, and AMBER Alerts. Viewers may sign up for this free service by visiting http://www.kmph.com, then clicking the "First Alert News" link. Using industry-leading software powered by TextCaster(r), KMPH text messages instantly reach the mobile phones of users who opt-in.
In making the announcement, Rosemary Danon, Vice President/Online and New Media of Pappas Telecasting, said, "We're very happy to be able to offer this exciting new service to our viewers. Cell phone ownership has reached nearly 70% of the U.S. population -- over 180 million users -- and we anticipate that cell phones will be an important link in the information chain. We expect 'KMPH FOX 26 First Alert News' to be a vital method of keeping the public informed and entertained."
Charles W. Pfaff, Senior Vice President/Western Group Manager of Pappas Telecasting Companies and General Manager of KMPH-TV, added, "'KMPH FOX 26 First Alert News' gives our viewers an opportunity to get important news as it breaks, no matter where they may be. We're especially proud of being able to use this new technology to instantly distribute AMBER Alerts, something of critical importance in ensuring the safety of the children in the communities that we serve."
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 KMPH 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 has already initiated text-messaging service at KTNC-TV, the Azteca America affiliate in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose and Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto DMAs, offering the first text service with AMBER Alerts in Spanish. The company previously announced plans to offer text-messaging service at KPTM-TV/Omaha, Nebraska, KDBC-TV/El Paso, Texas, KSWT-TV/Yuma, Arizona, and KHGI-TV/Lincoln-Hastings-Kearney, Nebraska.
About KMPH FOX 26
KMPH FOX 26 is a Pappas Telecasting Companies station. Visalia-based Pappas Telecasting is the largest privately-held, commercial television broadcast group in the United States in terms of U.S. Household coverage as defined by Nielsen Media Research. KMPH's Ten O'CLOCK News is the No.1-rated late-night newscast in the Fresno-Visalia market, delivering a higher average rating in the key demographics Monday-Friday than the ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates combined. KMPH consistently over-indexes the national performance of FOX's primetime programming, whereas network programming on the market's other Big Four (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) affiliates under performs their networks' national performance.