JAPANESE BASEBALL PREMIERES ON AMERICAN TV
KTSF-TV Airs Live Broadcasts of Yomiuri Giants Games

SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2001 — The leader in Asian-language television programming in the United States, KTSF-TV continues their 25-year tradition of delivering innovative broadcasting by forming a partnership with Japan's number one baseball team, the Yomiuri Giants. Outstanding Major League Baseball imports like Ichiro Suzuki and Kazuhiro Sasaki have increased both Asian America's fascination for baseball and America's respect for the abilities of Asian athletes. In step with viewer interests, KTSF-TV will begin coverage of a series of Yomiuri Giants games live from the Tokyo Dome starting July 14th. The Giants are the only team to televise games nationally in Japan. Now they will be the only team to broadcast internationally, and they'll accomplish this through KTSF.

A revered name in Japanese households, the Yomiuri Giants owe much of their prestige to their status as the first official baseball team of Japan. In addition, from 1965-1973, the Giants won nine straight Japan Series Championships. Preeminent players who have donned the Giants orange and black include: revered Sadaharu Oh (with 868 career home runs), legendary pitcher Eiji Sawamura, and Japan's Lou Gehrig (with a .314 career batting average), Tetsuharu Kawakami. In all, the Yomiuri Giants have won more pennants and Japan series titles than any other team.

The partnership between KTSF-TV and the Yomiuri Giants involves the Japanese-language broadcast rights for four Giants games this season, as well as Japan Series games if the Giants qualify. The games will air on July 14, August 11, August 25, and September 8.

Since 1976, KTSF programming has reflected the diverse Asian communities in the Bay Area market. Census 2000 results indicate that Asian Americans comprise 4.2% (or 11.9 million) of the total U.S. population. 18.4% of these Asian Americans reside in the San Francisco television market alone. For the 1.6 million Northern California Asian Americans, KTSF-TV is their only source of in-language news and entertainment. The station carries programming in fourteen languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Japanese, Korean and Hindi.

KTSF places a high value on research and has commissioned in-language consumer and viewership studies since 1986. KTSF maintains its leadership position by being actively involved with community groups, creating innovative programming, pioneering audience and consumer research, and helping advertisers reach new markets.

CONTACTS:

Cristina Santos or Lisa Skriloff
Multicultural Marketing Resources, Inc.
212.242.3351
cristina@multiculturalmarketingresources.com

Michael Sherman
General Manager, KTSF-TV
415.468.2626 x7399
msherman@ktsftv.com

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