[BC] EAS alert tones in movie preview ad

[Rich Wood]

------ At 10:17 AM 11/12/2010, Sid Schweiger wrote: -------

>Rich Wood opines:  "We only need an alert when there's a real emergency."
>
>That will come as a shock to Fox News Channel.

I don't watch or listen to FOX, so I'm not exactly sure what you 
mean. Are they using the official noise in program or promotional material?

>"I haven't checked the rules so I'm not sure if an announcement is 
>required when a test is sent."
>
>No for a weekly test, yes for a monthly.

Thanks for answering my question. Even though those on high dismiss 
my comments I still believe it does this disservice a disservice by 
conditioning listeners to ignore the noise. Since the noise contains 
data I'm assuming a listener wouldn't be able to differentiate 
between the test and a nuclear attack until a human (or something 
similar sounding like Ryan Seacrest) made an announcement.

I would scale back the announcements to only those required by law. 
My preference would be a regularly scheduled promo that reassures 
listeners that the station is participating in a system that's 
designed to keep them safe. Full disclosure.

Even though it may qualify as false advertising such an announcement 
reinforces the station's alleged concern for the safety of its 
audience. You know, like all involved in the Minot incident.

I've heard only one use of the system. That was an automated 
insertion of an Amber alert that had no relevance to my area. This 
past Winter and Spring we've had severe weather. Many nearby areas 
were flooded. I heard no notifications. TV stations had regular 
crawls and my weather radio wouldn't shut up. Even the cable systems 
ran crawls. Radio - not a peep.

Rich