I see the old bugaboo of flawed EAS messages had reared its ugly head this past week. The longer I stay out of radio, the more I see and hear that somethings never change.
This past Friday afternoon, an Amber Alert EAS was sent, causing KFBK and all Comcast cable TV channels to interrupt programming with the dulcet tones of an EAS, then – no audio. No information regarding this Amber Alert was attached to the EAS.
I was watching news on Comcast at the time, but wondered if things hadn’t improved since my days in both commercial and non-commercial Sacramento radio, so I clicked on KFBK, to hear their EAS was noteworthy in their complete lack the sole purpose of the entire system – the info.
I bring this up now, for both the father who had apparently kidnapped his daughter and the child were found dead over the weekend.
Several years ago, a few months before quitting as a news anchor/board op at KFBK, a very time-sensitive - it may have been an Amber Alert, but my memory isn’t all that keen - EAS was screwed up royally. I was on an evening shift as news anchor during The Mark Williams Show. While prepping for the next news break, the “EAS Emergency” telephone rang in that dreary, dirty old newsroom. I happened to be the only poor dumb bastard there, and I answered it and heard an unidentified voice quickly asked, “Why haven’t you broadcast the EAS we sent out?”
From where that phone was located, I could see the EAS monitor on the equipment bank behind the Board Op on duty in KFBK Control, with no lights flashing to indicate an EAS had been received. I told whoever was on the phone I’d double check with the Board Op and I also ran into KSTE Control to see if that monitor had received an EAS. Nothing. Then I personally checked with the KFBK Board Op, who had no idea what the hell I was talking about.
I reported this, then asked them to resend the EAS. To make this as short as possible, it took three more attempts before an EAS was received with any audio attached – and that audio, naturally, was unintelligible. The “Emergency” computer monitor next to the main news editor’s station also had no info on this alert.
Finally, over ½ hour after this initial phone call, we were able to broadcast that EAS, but it was like pulling teeth.
The post-mortem meeting with EAS officials, CHP Brass, KFBK management, engineers, and others, was a classic finger pointer – “He didn’t do it.” I spoke up and suggested that the KFBK Control Room should have a computer/monitor with audio-to-the-air capability where, upon issuing an EAS Alert of any kind, the issuing authority should record their audio into a computer and send a high-bitrate mp3 of the info via e-mail to all stations…then, if the EAS monitors have no or unintelligible audio, the Board Op could sound the Alert tones, play the mp3, and close out the Alert in short order.
Of course, this was considered too complicated – everyone buried their ears in the sand, and continue to rely on an EAS system that all-too-frequently doesn’t properly operate. It took me about ten minutes of self-instruction to learn how to record and e-mail a short audio clip, but that was too much to undertake.
Some things simply never change…..
This past Friday afternoon, an Amber Alert EAS was sent, causing KFBK and all Comcast cable TV channels to interrupt programming with the dulcet tones of an EAS, then – no audio. No information regarding this Amber Alert was attached to the EAS.
I was watching news on Comcast at the time, but wondered if things hadn’t improved since my days in both commercial and non-commercial Sacramento radio, so I clicked on KFBK, to hear their EAS was noteworthy in their complete lack the sole purpose of the entire system – the info.
I bring this up now, for both the father who had apparently kidnapped his daughter and the child were found dead over the weekend.
Several years ago, a few months before quitting as a news anchor/board op at KFBK, a very time-sensitive - it may have been an Amber Alert, but my memory isn’t all that keen - EAS was screwed up royally. I was on an evening shift as news anchor during The Mark Williams Show. While prepping for the next news break, the “EAS Emergency” telephone rang in that dreary, dirty old newsroom. I happened to be the only poor dumb bastard there, and I answered it and heard an unidentified voice quickly asked, “Why haven’t you broadcast the EAS we sent out?”
From where that phone was located, I could see the EAS monitor on the equipment bank behind the Board Op on duty in KFBK Control, with no lights flashing to indicate an EAS had been received. I told whoever was on the phone I’d double check with the Board Op and I also ran into KSTE Control to see if that monitor had received an EAS. Nothing. Then I personally checked with the KFBK Board Op, who had no idea what the hell I was talking about.
I reported this, then asked them to resend the EAS. To make this as short as possible, it took three more attempts before an EAS was received with any audio attached – and that audio, naturally, was unintelligible. The “Emergency” computer monitor next to the main news editor’s station also had no info on this alert.
Finally, over ½ hour after this initial phone call, we were able to broadcast that EAS, but it was like pulling teeth.
The post-mortem meeting with EAS officials, CHP Brass, KFBK management, engineers, and others, was a classic finger pointer – “He didn’t do it.” I spoke up and suggested that the KFBK Control Room should have a computer/monitor with audio-to-the-air capability where, upon issuing an EAS Alert of any kind, the issuing authority should record their audio into a computer and send a high-bitrate mp3 of the info via e-mail to all stations…then, if the EAS monitors have no or unintelligible audio, the Board Op could sound the Alert tones, play the mp3, and close out the Alert in short order.
Of course, this was considered too complicated – everyone buried their ears in the sand, and continue to rely on an EAS system that all-too-frequently doesn’t properly operate. It took me about ten minutes of self-instruction to learn how to record and e-mail a short audio clip, but that was too much to undertake.
Some things simply never change…..