[BC] The Return of Improper Use of EAS Tones

[Alan Peterson]

Monday night during the CBS TV broadcast of "Two and a Half Men", a commercial came on for "Skyline", which I presume is either a movie or a computer game -- I didn't catch the entire clip and the show was not running through my DVR.

In the closing seconds of the spot, unmistakable EAS tones were woven through the soundtrack as a dramatic punctuator to the musical and effect underscore. And it was loud - it certainly wasn't buried in the underscore.

ARCO got a sound drubbing several weeks ago for using EAS tones in a radio spot. This was TV advertising. Isn't anybody out there at the agencies getting the message that this is verboten???

Alan Peterson
Asst Chief Engineer, Radio America Network
Washington DC