For most people living outside Alaska, if they’ve heard of Sitka it’s because they’ve been on a cruise ship that stopped there. This small city of just under 9,000 people in the Southeast of the state, near the capital of Juneau, balloons in size when ships dock to give passengers an opportunity to take in […]
It’s hard to believe that some radio stations still haven’t gotten the message that the Emergency Alert System (EAS) is no joking matter. Today the FCC announced that it has fined iHeartCommunications $1,000,000 (see the order and consent decree here) after an investigation into an October, 2014 broadcast of the syndicated “The Bobby Bones Show.” […]
New York radio station WXNY-FM is being asked to pay a $20,000 penalty because it aired Emergency Alert System (EAS) tones as part of a comedy sketch on the January 28, 2014 episode of the Luis Jimenez Show. (more…)
The flow of new low-power FM construction permits is slowing to a trickle as the FCC gets towards the end of the singleton applications. Many of the 19 stations authorized in the last week require a 2nd adjacent waiver in order to be spaced a little closer to existing stations. Commensurately, a fair number of […]
Yet again, the FCC is making a firm stance about the sanctity of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and is proposing major fines against Viacom, ESPN and NBCUniversal for recent infractions. In a Notice of Apparent Liability (PDF) sent to all three organizations, the FCC is asking for a voluntary forfeiture amount of $1,120,000 from […]
In an enforcement advisory this week, the Federal Communications Commission reminds broadcasters about the guidelines for using Emergency Alert System codes and attention signals. Prompted by complaints over the use of emergency alert tones in commercials or promotional spots on television, the FCC not only released details about recent policy violations (TBS and a Kentucky […]
While many broadcasters had no problems receiving and retransmitting last week’s nationwide Emergency Alert System test, many others reports of problems are surfacing. John Anderson at DIYmedia.net compiled some of the glitches: Here in Wisconsin, radio stations broadcast 30 seconds of garbled audio that effectively degenerated into static. Similar results have been reported in Pennsylvania, […]
At 2 PM Eastern time this afternoon some percentage of US radio listeners and television viewers heard or saw the national EAS test. I was in the main studio of Northwestern University’s WNUR-FM (where I serve as advisor), and waited patiently for our EAS unit to receive the signal from WBBM-AM, triggering the alert to […]
The first national test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) will take place next Wednesday, November 9th at 11am Pacific time. According to a letter issued by the FCC today: “The test will occur simultaneously across the United States and the U.S. territories and will last approximately 30 seconds, after which regular programming will resume. […]
The irony would be so delectable if it weren’t for the 1033 unfortunate drivers whose cars were stuck in the mud, many of which were totaled and not returned for over a week. As Jerry Del Colliano reports at Inside Music Media, a Clear Channel station in Grand Rapids, MI threw its annual B93 Concert […]
