[EAS] Getting rid of the daisy chain

[Barry Mishkind]

At 08:13 AM 11/28/2011, Alex Hartman wrote:
>Mike,
>
>You can't have it both ways IMO. Either the broadcasters are apart of
>the system or they aren't. If you want government takeover of the EAS
>or any variant going forward, then so be it.

        Alex, you are mostly correct in your assessment.
        
        The resounding silence from around the
        industry - except for a few tech types who
        have already analyzed the system and
        understand its strengths, failures, and 
        needs - will continue the slide into
        a national system for different use.

        The feds, by and large, do not care
        about local or state regional issues.
        They have one goal in mind ...
        ... and it is not without possibility
        that they will change the face of
        broadcasting to get what they want.

        Broadcasters could have - and still could -
        make EAS much better than what has
        been pushed down their throat. But
        some folks have to remember that
        one-size-does-not-fit-all.

        A Ku satellite feed from DC would 
        instantly solve things for 95% of 
        the country ... at a very cheap
        price. Yes, a few stations would
        have reception difficulties in
        the midst of big storms. Surprise.
        The big problem in the minds of
        the feds, is that would be a one-way
        system... they would not have data
        on every station polling them every
        few minutes.

        If the Rules directed toward diversity
        audio (to put the best audio on the air) 
        from one of several sources.  If top
        level inputs were much cleaner from
        a broadcast audio standpoint - less
        compression and expansion. And if
        station ownership and management
        considered EAS important - no one
        could do it better than broadcasters.

        Anyone seeking a single model of
        distribution - or basing decisions
        on what might fail on a particular
        plan - is stuck in 1997, hates EAS,
        and is a roadblock to improvement.

        One size does not fit all.
        
        Never will.