KTSF Celebrates 30 Years as the Nation's Leading Asian Broadcaster

San Francisco - September 5, 2006 - KTSF, the nation's leading Asian language broadcaster, celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday. It was on September 4, 1976 that KTSF Television was launched in the San Francisco market with the airing of Chinese and Japanese programming. In doing so, KTSF became the first television station in the United States to broadcast programming in Asian languages. The legacy continues today with KTSF carrying programming in all major Asian languages.

The KTSF story starts in 1965 when Lillian Lincoln Howell was awarded the FCC license to operate channel 26 in the San Francisco market. Her goal was to operate a station serving underserved markets. She believed that mainstream stations were not providing news and entertainment programming to non-English speakers and her intention was to have KTSF address this need.

After 11 years of struggling with various obstacles, Lillian Howell was finally able to put KTSF on the air in 1976. Because there were already stations broadcasting Hispanic programming at that time, she decided to focus her efforts on the Asian market.

Since then, KTSF has consistently increased its schedule of Asian programming consistent with demographic changes in the market. In 1982 the station added Filipino programming in response to increased immigration from the Philippines. By 1985 the Bay Area Vietnamese population had grown to a size where in-language programming could be added to the schedule. In the late 1990's, as the H1-B visa brought more workers to the US from Taiwan, China and India, KTSF expanded its hours of Mandarin and Hindi programming.

In 1989, KTSF became the first television station in the United States to broadcast a nightly, live Chinese newscast. The Cantonese-language news debuted on February 6, 1989 and was well established in the community when the major events in China and Tiananmen Square began to unfold in the spring of 1989. The station's coverage of these events received widespread praise from the local community and mainstream news organizations.

KTSF has been active in researching the television viewing habits of the Asian community to provide better understanding for marketers anxious to reach this group. In 1986, KTSF hired Gallup to conduct the first ever Chinese consumer study in the States. KTSF has continued to do annual consumer studies ever since. In 2005, KTSF became the first Asian media outlet in the United States to subscribe to Nielsen Media Research data and to provide this viewership information to current and prospective advertisers.

For the past 30 years, news has been a key component of the KTSF schedule. Every day the station carries major newscasts from China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and the Philippines.

KTSF expanded its news operation in 1991 with the addition of the Mandarin News. In 2006, KTSF added live Cantonese and Mandarin news programming on Saturday and Sunday. According to Nielsen, 91,000 viewers have watched KTSF news programming each weeknight in 2006.

Throughout the past 30 years, KTSF has actively supported a wide variety of Asian community organizations. This includes promoting community activities, offering air time for fund-raising as well as making direct monetary donations.

KTSF has maintained its leadership position since 1976 by creating innovative programming, actively promoting community groups, spearheading audience and consumer research and helping advertisers reach new markets.

On Sunday, September 10, KTSF will celebrate its 30th anniversary at a dinner with 400 guests with singer Patty Austin headlining the event. This celebration will include program partners, leaders from community groups, representatives from the advertising industry, viewers and staff members. Just as Lillian Howell began KTSF in 1976 to serve the community, her commitment remains just as strong today.

The San Francisco Chronicle featured a story about KTSF and its owner, Lillian Lincoln Howell, on September 2, 2006. To read the Chronicle article click here.

CONTACTS:

Lisa Yokota (lyokota@ktsftv.com)
Michael Sherman (msherman@ktsftv.com)
(415) 468-2626
www.ktsf.com

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