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WILM airs EBS alert while flagship WDEL doesn't

M

MikefromDelaware

At around 3:15pm I was scanning past WILM when the EBS alert signal came on followed by severe weather info. I punched in WDEL to hear if they were airing it and oddly enough Rick Jensen's show was on. That seems strange to me as WDEL/WSTW are the flagships for the EBS system in Wilmington. As many people here at RI have lamented about the "computer controlled stations" and how would breaking local news like that get out. Here the live and local station (WDEL) didn't air the info where as the computer controlled station (WILM is on the bird at that time with pre-recorded news updates until 4pm when they go with live local news updates) did air the EBS warning while still on "auto pilot" via the computer.

The warning wasn't exagerated as about 15-20 minutes later we got hit pretty hard with that storm and as Allan Loudell (WDEL) reported around 4pm during his newscast that DP&L reported around 3000 homes in New Castle County had lost power due to that storm.
 
The EAS units can store the incomming alert, turn on a warning light, then play it minutes later to give the on-air person time to re-arrange the deck chairs. Good possibility WDEL had already finished running it before you heard it on WILM.
 

The EAS units can store the incomming alert, turn on a warning light, then play it minutes later to give the on-air person time to re-arrange the deck chairs. Good possibility WDEL had already finished running it before you heard it on WILM.


As I interpret what you wrote, it comes across to my eyes like WDEL not WILM delayed in their airing as WDEL had live humans running things (Jensen and his producer) who'd see the warning light and wait for a good place to break in with the EBS alert. WILM, on the other hand had the autopilot computer running their station, would it wait until a break in Hannity for local avails to air the EBS or simply cut in. Or are you saying that WDEL/WSTW held back allowing the EBS alert to go down the line to the other stations until AFTER they (WDEL/WSTW) aired the alert first. Is that legal? Somehow that sounds unethical.

But in any case, you offer an explanation that offers a reason why both weren't airing together. Thanks !

 
It makes a lot more sense that WDEL would air the alert ahead of WILM and everybody else for that matter. I would imagaine that they are the Delaware station holding EM Net for Wilmington. If memory serves me right, the other station in automation could delay the message up to 4 minutes before being broadcast.
What shocks me more is why didn't WDEL go into heavy storm watch coverage. This is an opportunity to inform the public. TV does such a great job of kicking into action. It seems like Rick Jensen and WDEL news should have stopped regular programming and talked about the emergency and broadcast continuious storm information. I'm a little shocked about that. For that matter, the other Wilmington area radio stations should have done the same thing. If you have live programming during a local emergency, talk about it. That is "serving the public interest". Who's live at 3 in Wilmington? I would think the music stations for the drive, WJBR, WSTW, WXCY, WJKS, Tom-FM & the ticket?
 
MikefromDelaware said:
Is that legal? Somehow that sounds unethical.
Click to expand...

Perfectly legal. Basically speaking, the FCC requires every radio station to have an EAS box, have the ability to get an emergency message on the air, and clear weekly and monthly tests. Beyond that, everything else is more or less voluntary.

For example, a station can opt to clear tornado warnings but not severe thunderstorm warnings... or they can clear flash flood warnings and not flood warnings. They can also rebroadcast a watch or warning immediately or wait 2, 4, 10, or 15 minutes if they want to.

In any given market, station WXXX can choose to air every watch or warning under the sun (their programming would be interrupted all the time) while WYYY chooses to only clear national emergencies (you'd never hear an EAS activation). WDEL (or whoever is the primary EAS station in Wilmington) doesn't have to relay any weather alerts as all other stations monitor NOAA WeatherRadio (and probably the DE State Police somehow) and they can retransmit the warnings that way (if they want to).
 
As for what stations broadcast, you are 100% correct. In my day in broadcasting, the local emergency management offices wanted to activate for everything and that always caused contention with the broadcasters. EBS now EAS really should only be used in extreme emergencies. Crying wolf too many times actually hurts how effective the system works.
 
Everyone is kinda' getting it half right here.

Whenever the National Weather Service sends a weather alert (even for flash floods in the predictable places), the message carries something like "EAS activation requested". Of course, a station in Wilmington will see such alerts (on the A.P. wire) for the Maryland panhandle, so each station has to use some discretion and common sense.

WDEL (via WSTW, the primary EAS station) is tied into the "bunker", the state of Delaware's emergency communications center. Actually, civil defense officials - worried about the "Chicken Little" effect - play it quite conservatively... They DON'T activate, even for routine National Weather Service "Severe Thunderstorm Warnings". ONLY for tornadoes in, or immediately adjacent to New Castle County, or an extraordinary flood situation. So WDEL/WSTW won't typically activate EAS unilaterally unless the "bunker" activates.

That doesn't mean they won't break in with weather warnings (in WDEL's case, sometimes with the bulletin sounder, depending on severity!) and keep repeating.

WILM has tended to activate EAS more often, typically for any "Severe Thunderstorm Warning" for New Castle County or immediately adjacent areas. But WILM drew the line at routine "Flash Flood Warnings". Everyone living around Cooch's Bridge KNOW that area quickly floods out.

The most important thing: Stations are wired for emergency EAS activation if no one's in the building overnight or weekends. And, when living human beings ARE at their respective stations, that they frequently check out AP for weather advisories. Repetition is also key. Radio listeners, especially in vehicles, come in and out.

Now that 'DEL's so much more 'LIVE and LOCAL' compared to 'ILM, it's so much easier to repeat and update weather advisories in P.M. drive, when much of the rotten weather moves through. And the 'STW jocks do the same.
 
Delaware radio, TV, and cable outlets have several ways of receiving EAS alerts. In New Castle County stations are required to monitor two over the air signals, they are WSTW the LP1 and WHYY-TV the LP2. Since some stations have a problem monitoring a TV station, they can also monitor WJBR, although that will be changing after this years Delaware EAS meeting later this month. Each LP1 and LP2 station in the state, as well as the Cable headends have a computer system called EMnet that sends out messages from the DEMA office near Smyrna. Song stations also monitor NOAA weather radio. No station is required to air anything other that the National EAS messages from the President, and it has never been used. In Delaware all broadcasters agree to air certain EAS alerts voluntarily, they include Tornado warnings, Amber alerts, and things that threaten the public in a very short period of time. Since stormy weather like Thunderstorms move in slower, they are not a part of the list of things to be activated for. Any station can set their EAS "box" to activate on other alerts, such as Thunderstorm warnings or flash flood warning. Each EAS message is limited by the FCC rules to two minutes, and many station prefer to announce these evens as news, when they can cover more specific information such as details of what is on weather radar. The LP stations do not "hold" alerts, they send them out, then the receiving station has two options. If they are unmanned they must have their "box" in automatic mode, which sends the message out as soon as the complete message is received. Each EAS message has three digital "chirps" at the beginning and end. The receiving box must receive both the beginning and ending digital message, check it to make sure it is correct and then can send it. The message has a digital time code, which states the time send as well as how long the message is good for. If the station holds the message for playback (only manned stations can do this) and they wait past the expired time, it will not air.
So if the message was for example a "Thunderstorm Warning" no station is required to air it, they could just announce it. WILM might have received the message from NOAA, and their "box" might be set to "alert" on Thunderstorm Warnings, while WDEL might not. I hope this helps.

Walt Barcus Chairman, Delaware Emergency Communications Committee.
 
Thank you all, for offering your piece of information in explaining how the EBS, now EAS works. It is more complicated than I realized.

We now return you to our normally scheduled program already in progress.
 
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