Texas Border Business
Telemundo’s local owned station serving viewers all across South Texas and along the U.S./Mexico border will debut a dedicated consumer advocacy team this month to give even more consumers in Texas a voice
McAllen, TX – (May 9, 2016) – Telemundo 40 Rio Grande Valley / KTLM today announced the expansion of the Telemundo Station Group’s successful and popular consumer investigative franchise – Telemundo Responde (Telemundo Responds) – to the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Telemundo 40, which serves the tenth largest Hispanic market in the country, will debut South Texas’ first-ever, dedicated consumer investigative team this month and will answer inquiries from local residents who fear they may have been wronged in some way. Consumers who have had to live in deplorable living conditions because of lack of building repairs, were defrauded by individuals who claimed to be U.S. Department of Justice-accredited representatives authorized to process federal immigration cases, or failed to receive insurance funds they were owed from individuals they had contracted to help them are just some of the examples of how the Telemundo Responde teams are helping consumers all across the country.
Ana Cecilia Méndez, who has worked as a News Anchor and Reporter for Telemundo 40’s weekend newscasts since 2013, will be the new Consumer Investigative Reporter in charge of leading the local Telemundo 40 Responde team at KTLM. Telemundo 40’s first Telemundo Responde report will air on Thursday, May 26 during the local station’s weekday newscast, Noticias Telemundo 40, which airs Monday to Fridays at 4:30 PM, 5 PM and 10 PM and on Saturday and Sundays at 4:30 PM and 10 PM.
“Telemundo Responde is helping to transform communities all across the country, and our Hispanic viewers are taking notice of this invaluable resource that only their local Telemundo-owned stations can provide,” said José Flores, President and General Manager, Telemundo 40. “The launch of Telemundo Responde in the Rio Grande Valley – the fourth dedicated consumer investigative unit in Texas – demonstrates our commitment to deliver the local news, information and resources that our viewers need to stay ahead. Ana Cecilia is a dedicated journalist who will dig in, push back and get the answers that our local consumers have been deprived of for far too long.”
“As a journalist and resident of the Rio Grande Valley, I am very proud and honored to speak up and be the advocate that our consumers need and help empower them,” said Méndez. “Consumers should not have to wait months to receive funds owed to them, or fall victim to identity fraud or theft because they didn’t know where they could turn to receive help. Telemundo 40 Responde will fill this informational gap and I’m certain that it will become one of the most important resources for our community, like it has become for 11 other markets across the nation.”
Since joining Telemundo 40 in 2013, Ana Cecilia Méndez has anchored the station’s local weekend newscasts and helped to deliver live, local breaking news for viewers all across the Rio Grande Valley. Prior to joining the Telemundo family, Méndez worked as reporter for various television stations in México, including Televisa Hermosillo / XHAK and Mexicanal Network. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the Universidad del Valle in México.
Launched in 2014, the Telemundo Responde units have collectively produced more than 1,800 stories and recovered more than $4 million for consumers in 11 markets, including Los Angeles (KVEA), New York (WNJU), Miami-Fort Lauderdale (WSCV), Houston (KTMD), Dallas-Fort Worth (KXTX), Chicago (WSNS), San Antonio (KVDA), the San Francisco Bay Area (KSTS), Phoenix (KTAZ), Tucson (KHRR) and Puerto Rico (WKAQ). With the launch of Telemundo Responde at Telemundo 40, viewers all across Texas, including Houston (KTMD), Dallas-Fort Worth (KXTX) and San Antonio (KVDA), have a local consumer advocacy team dedicated to answering their local consumer concerns. Below are some examples of how the Telemundo Responde units in Texas have stepped in to help consumers:
- Houston: The local Telemundo Responde team aired a two-part series, “En Malas Condiciones” (In Bad Conditions) that exposed the deplorable conditions that dozens of individuals lived in in an apartment complex. Moldy ceilings, unusable water pipes and air conditioning units that couldn’t be used were some of the shocking living conditions that local residents had to reside in because their building management refused to make repairs unless they agreed to sign a new lease that included a rent increase. In addition to helping reveal that the building’s management company had been reported for other consumer complaints, Telemundo Responde’s two part series helped raise awareness about what local residents can do when they are faced with landlords or management offices who refuse to make unit repairs. Click here and here to watch the award-winning consumer investigative series.
- Dallas-Fort Worth: Several families from North Texas sought the services of a pastor who claimed to be a U.S. Department of Justice-accredited representative who is licensed and authorized to process federal immigration cases. The families contracted the pastor to help them process the necessary paperwork to earn lawful status in the country. After paying the pastor thousands of dollars to process their cases with federal officials, some families began receiving deportation notices or no information at all. Realizing that they had been victims of fraud and fearing that their American Dreams were dashed and their hard-earned money taken by an unscrupulous individual, the families called Telemundo Responde for help. Telemundo Responde learned that the pastor was not accredited by the Department of Justice to process any immigration paperwork and connected the families with local not-for-profit organizations authorized so they could process their immigration cases. As a result, the local not-for-profit organizations helped the families get real-time information about their cases and one family was able to adjust to lawful permanent residency and has since contacted the local authorities and placed charges against the pastor. Check out the two-part story here and here.
- San Antonio: A couple from San Antonio contracted the services of a local public adjuster to help them resolve a home insurance claim. Several months elapsed and the public adjuster continued to tell the consumers that their insurance check was on its way. Eager to receive more information, the consumers called their insurance company directly and learned that a check for more than $3,200 had already been mailed to the public adjuster. Exasperated, the consumers called the public adjuster to track down the insurance check they were owed, to no avail. After the consumers called Telemundo Responde, seeking help, the Telemundo Responde called the local public adjuster directly to inquire on behalf of the consumers why their home insurance check had not been sent to the consumers. A day after the local Telemundo Responde team spoke to the public adjuster’s office, the consumers received the home insurance check they were owed. Click here to watch the report.
Telemundo 40 / KTLM has experienced a significant transformation thanks to NBCUniversal’s investment in all of its Telemundo-owned stations. Since 2014, the station has expanded live news coverage with a weekday half-hour local newscast at 4:30 PM, resumed local programming of two half-hour weekday newscasts at 5 PM and 10 PM and two half-hour weekend newscasts at 4:30 PM and 10 PM. To support the boost in local news, the station has also hired newsroom staff, including news anchors, reporters and producers. NBCUniversal’s investment in the station has already yielded positive results and in February 2016, KTLM’s late night weekday newscast, Noticias Telemundo 40 at 10 PM, was the market’s most-watched late local newscast, in any language among Adults 18 to 49 and Adults 25 to 54. This was the first time that Telemundo 40 led the market as the most-watched late local news program at 10 PM, regardless of language, and in two key demographic groups.
Telemundo 40 Rio Grande Valley
Telemundo 40 / KTLM is Telemundo’s local television station serving the Spanish-speaking community throughout South Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. Owned by NBCUniversal, Telemundo 40 is committed to delivering the most-up-to-date local breaking news, weather, sports and entertainment programming to its viewers in the tenth largest Spanish-speaking television market in the country. Telemundo 40’s community involvement is focused on important topics to viewers such as immigration, education and health. For more information, visit Telemundo40.com.
