[EAS] Cable TV Problems

[Adrienne Abbott]

The more I hear from cable technicians and representatives, the more it
seems like there are some major problems with EAS in the cable industry and
there isn't much of an effort to solve the problems. And because those
problems literally override the work that broadcasters do, they become our
problems, too. Case in point--during the National EAS Test, I watched two
channels on the TV's at our LP1 station in Reno. The station is a cable
subscriber. One TV was tuned to a local station that has a news department,
the other station was set to Fox News. Neither channel was force-tuned for
the National Test. The local station carried the test, including the faulty
audio and the test graphic. Fox News continued uninterrupted on the other
TV. The local cable provider told me that they "successfully force-tuned"
for the National EAS Test and when I told them what had happened where I was
watching the test, they promised to look into it and haven't gotten back to
me since then. Yet they apparently have filed a report with the FCC that
indicates the National Test was a success for them. 

Now, combine my own experience with the points Ann Arnold raised during the
Roundtable and the reaction, or over-reaction, from the cable industry and
it seems to me that you have a real case of heads buried in the sand. Yes,
I'm aware that the lack of force-tuning where I watched the National EAS
Test was most likely related to old set top boxes but I'm also aware that
without any further incentive to do so, those boxes probably won't be
replaced any time soon. I'm also aware that the same thing probably happened
in dozens of other places, too. But the cable industry will continue to say
that the Test was a success for them because they really don't know how many
of these older set top boxes are still in the subscription area and where
they are and how they performed because they're all watching on systems that
use the newer boxes. So their reports say the test was a success and there
will be no effort to deal with the problem of the older boxes because the
problem officially does not exist...and the cable industry will not only
continue to insist that we should keep using the legacy SAME format because
there are converter boxes that cost less than new EAS equipment, they will
continue to insist that they should over ride local channels with old,
outdated technology, rather than let the broadcasters serve their
communities with complete, accurate and up to date information.
Adrienne
2 DirecTV subscriptions and 1 OTA set...   

"Radio burps, it cries, it needs to be fed all the time, it requires
constant attention, but we love it." Jim Aaron WGLN 

-----Original Message-----
From: eas-bounces at radiolists.net [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On
Behalf Of Sean Donelan

On Tue, 29 Nov 2011, David Ostmo wrote:
> I agree with Richard Rudman; the default should be for cable systems to 
> exclude local broadcasters.
>
> One other thought; many broadcasters overlook cable systems when 
> talking about EAS.  Cable operators play an important role in EAS and 
> need to be included in all discussions of local, state and national 
> plans.

This list is composed primarily of broadcasters, so you won't hear much
from any other side here.  Likewise cable lists are composed primarily of
cable engineers, so you won't hear much about broadcaster problems there 
either.

If you go back to the FCC rulemaking, they have extensive footnotes.  The 
group most opposed to allowing cable systems to selectively exclude local 
broadcasters was local emergency officials.  They wrote a lot of comments 
about how local cable franchise terms include local override, while 
broadcasters do not have to carry local emergency messages.  Although a 
few broadcasters may carry some local emegency messages, others don't 
carry any. Local emergency officials submitting comments ranged from 
small towns to largest cities.

The FCC appears to have split the difference between the competing 
opinions, broadcasters, cable systems and local emergency officials.
On the other hand, direct satellite broadcasters, which don't have local 
franchise override requirements, the FCC rules are split the opposite way
and require excluding local broadcasters from EAS overrides.

Should broadcasters be required to carry all local emergency messages in 
exchange for cable systems excluding those channels from local franchise
override requirements?

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