[BC] EAS on HD

[Robert Reymont]

HD Radio Multicasts Must Carry EAS on Dec. 31.  As a reminder,  with 
the coming of the new year comes an EAS requirement of which many FM 
stations may not be aware. In FCC EB Docket 04-296, the FCC ruled 
that emergency messaging capabilities must be added to the newer 
digital transmission technologies such as HDTV, HD Radio and satellite radio.

For radio stations transmitting a digital signal, compliance with 
this rule is already in place on the main channel because the FCC 
rules require the analog and digital main channels to carry the same 
programming. However, stations transmitting a multicast program (HD2, 
HD3, etc.) may not have an in-place method of transmitting EAS messages.

The FCC ruling was passed in November 2005 (access on the FCC Edocs 
filing system by searching for FCC 05-191). The details of the rules 
for terrestrial radio are in section III D.

The rules require stations to carry national EAS messages on all 
digital channels. Participation in state and local EAS activations 
will be voluntary, as it currently is for analog radio broadcasts. 
The rulemaking states that if a digital broadcaster chooses to 
participate in state and local EAS activations, he must comply with 
the Commission's Part 11 EAS rules. In reviewing the potential burden 
of carrying EAS messages on multicast streams, the FCC concluded that 
the costs of complying with the EAS requirements are outweighed by 
the public safety benefits of ensuring that all listeners receive EAS 
messages.

In the rulemaking, the FCC noted that broadcasters had more than one 
year to comply with the new rule, so it's unlikely that the FCC will 
be lenient in any citations of noncompliance.

There are four options for stations with multicast streams to take to 
ensure compliance:
1. Create the necessary switching to use a single EAS encoder for all 
the program streams.
2. Purchase additional EAS encoders for each multicast stream.
3. Cease transmitting a multicast signal until compliance is possible.
4. Prepare to pay the possible FCC fines.