Hearst Television Launches Free "Election 2012" App For iPhone, Android

NEW YORK, Aug. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hearst Television Inc., parent of one of the country's largest television station groups, has launched an "Election 2012" app featuring up-to-the-minute and in-depth election-related national content as well as content from the company's news stations in 25 markets stretching from Portland, Maine to Honolulu. 

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The advertising-supported Election 2012 app is available for free in the iTunes Store for iPhone users and the Google Play Store for Android users. 

Among the features of the "Election 2012" app:

• A friendly interface enabling users to browse local election and political coverage – including articles, slideshows, and videos – from a selection of local stations; 
• Local "Voters' Guides" with information such as deadlines on voter registration, polling locations, candidate biographies, and candidates' positions on issues; 
• A "count-down clock" to election day;
• Electoral College map;
• A featured "photo of the day";
• The ability to upload user-generated content;
• Facebook integration; and
• Live election-night video, continuous news and commentary updates, and election results.

Each station's local content is fed to the app using the content management system of Hearst Television partner company Internet Broadcasting.

The Election 2012 app is the latest feature of Hearst Television's Commitment 2012 election-coverage project, a renewal of the Company's biannual election-coverage efforts which began with Commitment 2000 and which have earned a Peabody Award and multiple USC Annenberg Walter Cronkite Awards.  Other features of Commitment 2012 include "12 in 12" – a pledge of a minimum 12 minutes' airtime for daily political news and candidate-discourse coverage – and an exclusive partnership with PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking website of the Tampa Bay Times.

"This app should come in handy not only for voters in the 25 Hearst Television news markets, but for any political observer interested in the latest developments in closely contested presidential-election states like Florida, Iowa, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – and in states hosting tight Senate races, like Massachusetts – in all of which states Hearst Television has leading news stations and websites," said Roger Keating, Senior Vice President of Hearst Television Inc. 

About Hearst Television

Hearst Television, a national multi-media company, owns and operates 29 local television stations and two local radio stations, serving 30 U.S. cities and reaching approximately 18% of U.S. television households.  The TV stations broadcast 60 video channels, featuring local and national news, weather, information, sports and entertainment programming, and local community service-oriented programs.  The stations also host and operate digital on-line and mobile platforms that extend the company's brands and content to local, national and international audiences.  Hearst Television is recognized as one of the industry's premier companies, and has been honored with numerous awards for distinguished journalism, industry innovation, and community service.  Hearst Television is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst Corporation.  The Company's Web address is www.hearsttelevision.com.

SOURCE Hearst Television Inc.