For the next three months the Asociación Nacional de Canales de Televisión (ANATEL) and the Oficina de Emergencia del Ministerio del Interior (ONEMI) will work together to develop a new system to communicate emergency messages to the population.

All free-to-air (FTA) networks associated with Anatel, including TVN, Telecanal, Mega and Canal 13, will be part of the new system.

The initial plan is to co-develop an alarm signal which will automatically display on all the screens across the country when an emergency situation is taking place.

“We are aware of the important role TV has in emergency situations,” said Ernesto Corona, president, ANATEL. “This is why we have been willing to collaborate to design, through our technical teams, a new system that lowers risks for the population.”

“The idea is to be able to alert the entire population within the first minutes after a natural disaster has occurred,” added Ricardo Toro, director, ONEMI. “The system will be complementary to the regional alert systems.”