[EAS] [SPAM] [10.8] Movie trailer potential violation

[Dale Lamm]

Interesting trailer.

There are three bursts of attention tones. The longest is 3.8 seconds.
All are exactly 853 Hz and 960 Hz (to the best my PC based tools can
measure). These are the mandated audio frequencies, although the
duration is less than 8 seconds.

There are two instances of the triple-burst data stream. Durations of
the first set are 555 ms each. The second triad's durations are 648 ms.
My guess is the trailer's director chose the duration to conform to the
accompanying sound effects.

A standard EAS EOM burst is 340 ms repeated three times (measured from
our broadcast of this morning's statewide tornado safety RMT), so the
trailer's bursts are not likely standard EOM's. They don't sound like
EOM's to my ear, there might be some data within them. Tomorrow we will
try decoding the data bursts, perhaps first filtering out the noise of
explosions, etc in the film trailer.

It's logical that a director thought the EAS bursts and tones would be a
good element to use when the goal was to focus people's attention on his
commercial. It's unfortunate that using them in this fashion dilutes
their effectiveness. And it's clearly a violation of FCC Rule 11.45 if
used on the air (IMO).