The NEW EAS

[mouseman]

This country's current Administration continues to set an anti-broadcaster tone. Today it was announced that future Emergency Alerts will be TEXTED to individuals on their cell phones, eventually replacing the broadcast EAS alerts that have served as the backbone of emergency communication in this country for decades.

This new plan is a slap in the face of broadcasters everywhere - especially in the context of current events, when broadcasters were praised during the recent weather disasters in Alabama as the source of early warning, then information during the storms, and finally information coordinating help and support for the public in the aftermath of this disaster .

further, no support for broadcaster efforts can be found in this Administration mandating FM chips in telephones, which would essentially servie the same purpose as this new EAS Texting plan.

Emergency alerts of any kind need to be given the best possible chance of succeeding, by being offered on mass media sources with the best chance of reaching the most people with a timely message. That's broadcast media, over the airways, in real time. Imagine Alabama again, this time with TEXTING as the primary source of alerts - how many people fail to even look at their phone before it's too late. When in the office, I may not look at text messages for hours - I would be dead.

Thank you Mr. President.

 

[long-time-first-time]

Further proof that radio is DYING. I know we disagree on that mouseman. The only thing that will save radio is LOCAL content, and that's not even guaranteed. Once streaming audio becomes commonly used in automobiles, there will be no reason to listen to radio unless it provides content that can't be duplicated. The PPM is actually speeding up the death cycle because it's rewarding stations for short-term thinking.

 

[mouseman]

Oh, and this effort was just as irrelevant I guess - by the way, isn't this the epitome of "local" content?

 St. Louis stations go wall-to-wall for tornadoes
St. Louis' four top local TV outlets -- KMOV, KSDK, KTVI and KPLR -- from Friday night through Sunday provided wall-to-wall local coverage of a series of tornadoes and their aftermath. The nonstop news meant foregoing much ad time. "I can't begin to tell you the commercials we didn't run," said Audrey Prywitch, news director of KTVI and KPLR. "That's what everybody did. It was about serving the viewer." St. Louis Business Journal/Biz Talk blog (4/26)

I guess, according to this Administration, and other opinions on this board, we broadcasters don't need to put out the effort cause no one's paying attention - no one's listening - terrestrial radio is dead, after all.

 

[mouseman]

Oh, hey, I wonder if this lady would've been able to take that EAS TEXT from the President about this, assuming there would have been any local information in the TEXT at all that could've helped her:

 Driver credits radio storm coverage for saving her life
An East Texas motorist who was commuting home from Dallas credits TownSquare Media radio broadcasts during Tuesday's tornado outbreaks with saving her life. She said in a letter that the broadcasts helped her and another driver avoid several twisters that were in their paths. Radio Ink (4/27


Wait, aren't states passing ANTI-TEXTING LAWS while driving? That means NO ONE in their cars will be LEGALLY ALLOWING to retrieve EAS TEXT messages while they're driving! Hmm, that's HELPFUL!

 

[long-time-first-time]

of course it's the epitome of local content, but the EAS warning can be duplicated by smart phones. What can't be easily duplicated is WIBC's Steve Simpson providing great coverage when the warnings have been issued. Does your station have the staff to provide good storm coverage or do you just leave it on the bird and relay EAS messages?

 

[mouseman]

L-T-F-T: "...do you just leave it on the bird and relay EAS messages?"

You already know the answer to that, or you wouldn't have asked the question in the first place. However, I don't pretend to be formatting as a news source to begin with. and my signal isn't the only one in the market with live [or tape delayed] syndicated programming from an out-of-market source. This point doesn't diminish the larger issue, the larger challenge from a government that devalues what this industry as a whole does in every community across the country.

This discussion is MUCH BIGGER than a personalized inquiry about my property - it's about the value of free [or perceived lack of value by this Administration] over-the-air broadcasters who do provide critical time sensitive information in emergency situations.

So, if that's all you got, if that's your only point supporting an opinion that broadcasters are obsolete, you're done here.

 

[Bengalsfan]

The broadcasters have two choices here. They can take this lying down and allow the current administration to make them irrelevant, or they can spend a little money on programing and become the kind of station that listeners know they can count on when it hits the fan.

Far too many broadcasters don't want to spend money on programming...local programming. Broadcasters need to get back to making it about the listeners and NOT the shareholders. There are no radio stations in my market that I would count on when severe weather hits. I have a weather radio for that. Far too many times, stations in this market are content to keep the automation running, because they have laid off all the live bodies, during bad times.

 

[Juan Bodley]

A big part of me wants to think that local stations can still serve a purpose in emergency situations but it's becoming apparent that the "emerging tech" is what the Feds think will save lives. Let the big guys fail and the little man will rise but only if they make the effort...and I just can't see it happening. NE Indiana is kind of a mix of pro-active and passive when it comes to putting out the watches and warnings. If a station had a live operator and a working weather radio (and awareness of their listening area) or a computer feed (that the jock couldn't use for surfing porn or schlock for the morning show) that was updating weather status then MAYBE it wouldn't matter what the FCC and the Administration want to pull on us now.
I'll go back to drinking my ambrosia now and waiting for the genie to come make the change. In the meantime my weather radio works and it's all I trust for my info.

 

[jack of all trades]

Wish I could count on Steve Simpson during the Pacer broadcasts. However, hearing a tornado siren while driving home from work a few weeks ago I learned I couldn't. I tuned in to WIBC only to find out Mark Boyle and Slick were not even going to acknowledge the warnings, much less share any airtime with the news division. When I made it home and turned on cable local weather I discovered I had just driven through the heart of the warning area without knowing it. I trudged to Radio Shack the next day for a NOAA Weather Radio/EAS receiver for my truck. I miss local radio.

 

[kb9wsl]

My theory is the current Administration wants to get rid of over the air broadcasters to free up all that spectrum for Wireless broad-band. Would love to know how many cell companies and wireless broad-band firms are donating to someone's re-election campaign. Maybe the money raised from spectrum auctions could go to reduce the national debt.

 

[Bengalsfan]

My theory is the current Administration wants to get rid of over the air broadcasters to free up all that spectrum for Wireless broad-band.

The administration does not have to do a thing to get rid of over-the-air broadcasters, they are doing a fine job of making themselves irrelevant on a daily basis. I picked up a Logitech Squeezebox internet radio yesterday for $150. I trashed my HD radios to make room for it.

 

[DTV-Chief]

This country's current Administration continues to set an anti-broadcaster tone. Today it was announced that future Emergency Alerts will be TEXTED to individuals on their cell phones, eventually replacing the broadcast EAS alerts that have served as the backbone of emergency communication in this country for decades.

Did the Administration announcement include "eventually replacing the broadcast EAS alerts" or is this an exageration? Similar announcements about adding CAP have been careful to clarify it will supplement the existing EAS. It's surprising they would flip to announce an eventual EAS replacement by cell phone texting.

 

[mouseman]

Chief - this announcement [by the FCC Chief and NY Mayor Bloomberg] in New York was touted as "the replacement for the current EAS system", part of PLAN [acronym], which the telcoms were instructed to work up, and roll eventually out, 5 years ago. NY becomes the first of two markets to roll out as "beta markets."

 

[mouseman]

The FCC’s new emergency-alert “PLAN” is all-wireless, no broadcast radio.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced the “Personalized Localized Alerting Network” at an event with executives from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and other wireless-industry players. Mayor Bloomberg calls PLAN a “quantum leap forward in using technology to keep people safe.” Tom Taylor this morning

 

[mouseman]

More from Tom Taylor this morning:
A poster on the Indiana Board of Radio-Info.com (here) probably speaks for a lot of broadcasters when he says “The administration continues to set an anti-broadcaster tone” and calls it “a slap in the face of broadcasters everywhere, especially in the contexts of current events, when broadcasters were praised during the recent weather disasters in Alabama.” He says “emergency alerts of all kinds need to be given", and Uncle Sam shouldn't ignore broadcasters. You might expect the NAB to vigorously respond to the Chairman Genachowski’s new pet PLAN, and Senior VP Dennis Wharton says “we’re pleased that cellphone carriers plan to live up to their promise to Congress five years ago to implement an emergency alert messaging system.” But he says Alabama proved that “when a cellular network goes down, customers will be unable to access these 90-character warnings.” That’s why he says “there is no communications system that matches the life-saving immediacy of a local broadcast signal.”

 

[Bengalsfan]

Again, if broadcasters want to be a part of this, they need to position themselves to where it would be foolish to leave them out of it. They have not done a very good job of doing that. If anything, they are making it easier to cut them out of the loop.

 

[mouseman]

So, we should also expect the telcoms to step in once PLAN EAS in place, and also be responsive to community needs after crisis events occur? We can assume AT&T, Verizon, or whatever carriers service the local community to step up like broadcasters, then, like these efforts?

 Southern stations extend tornado relief efforts
Stations in Alabama and Georgia are carrying on with relief drives for the victims of last week's near-record outbreak of deadly and devastating tornadoes. Among the efforts, telethons on WVTM in Birmingham and WHNT in Huntsville raised a total of more than $1.2 million, and WAGA in Atlanta partnered with a grocery chain and the Red Cross for fundraising. Broadcasting & Cable (5/9)

 

[w9wi]

IMHO this system and the service broadcasters provide are complimentary. This service alerts one that something is wrong, and provides the barest of detail. The little message says "TORNADO WARNING FOR MARION COUNTY UNTIL 2:00PM" -- you're going to look for a radio (or TV) to find out whether the tornado is approaching your house, or is at the other end of the county.

Broadcast radio really is of little value in providing that initial alert. Most of us simply are not allowed to listen attentively at work. Even if our cellphone does have a mandated FM radio, and even if that phone can receive a station we're actually interested in listening to. The EAS data system can provide the initial alert -- but it can't do a better job than the cellular network.

If broadcasters wish to remain relevant during emergency conditions, they need to ensure the audience can use them for the detailed information they're searching for after the PLAN alert goes off. Many broadcasters (especially TV) get it. Some don't. Stalling PLAN or mandating radios in cell phones won't fix that.

 

[secondchoice]

Chief - this announcement [by the FCC Chief and NY Mayor Bloomberg] in New York was touted as "the replacement for the current EAS system", part of PLAN [acronym], which the telcoms were instructed to work up, and roll eventually out, 5 years ago. NY becomes the first of two markets to roll out as "beta markets."

I hate to admit it, but with a huge # of FM stations on the Empire State Building, another 911 style attack that would leave only AM's and the TV stations not on that building. (IIRC only WCBS TV2 had two sites WT and Empire State during 911.) If they are going to use FM as a "primary" platform in NYC or any where: All FM's that are "sharing" a tower need to have an aux. site. Homeland Security or one of the other departments sould help any broadcaster with tax credits or $$ for these sites. IMHO cell coverage "might" work in large cities but, many areas of the nation lack "dependable" cell service. I live in one.

 

[mouseman]

 NAB: Local broadcast still sets standard for emergency alerts
The mobile phone industry may have lived up to its five-year-old pledge to Congress to develop an emergency alert system, but its Personal Localized Alerting Network is no substitute for the emergency broadcast system, according to the NAB. "When a cellular network goes down, customers will still be unable to access these 90-character warnings," NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said. "As was evidenced in Alabama and other parts of the South just two weeks ago, there is no communications system that matches the life-saving immediacy of a local broadcast signal." Broadcasting & Cable (5/10), Radio Business Report (5/11)