[EAS] FCC Addresses FEMA/Ad Council PSA Attention Signal Concerns

[Mike McCarthy]

This is s self created problem by broadcasters who choose to not relay
call to action messages. WEA wakes up phones with the old EBS tones, the
most recognized form of alert known to the US population over 20. EAS
bursts are difficult to discern in a noisy environment. Not so with steady
EBS tones.  When they come on, people stop in their tracks.

Further. broadcast EAS does not wake up receivers. And until broadcasters
actively engage in forwarding alert messages and the CEA works with
manufactures to incorporate them into the receivers, waking up silent
receivers will never happen.  The cell phone folks have beat us at our own
game and blunted broadcasters efforts to get receivers into the cell
phones.

It's that simple.  So...the bottom line is go with what works at getting
folks attention.

MM

> The problem is that we broadcasters have worked since the CONELRAD era to
> train people to recognize the dual-tone signal, and now the "duck farts"
> as
> the precursor of emergency information. Now the FCC is going to change
> their
> rules to condone the use of EAS tones as part of an "educational" PSA
> campaign using time donated by radio and television stations to promote