[EAS] Immediacy

[Ed Czarnecki]

>>> ... " Immediate means the complete EAN message must be re-broadcast
"live" from the beginning to the end; and any buffering or delays (operator
or
automation) must not to exceed the two minute audio buffer (or less)
required in the FCC rules.  No you can't just make your audio buffer bigger,
and get a longer delay (intentional South Park reference)."

I think we both better wait for FCC clarification (if it ever comes) before
making this kind of assertion.  Another view (from the FCC, during a meeting
at their offices) was that immediate means as soon as the EAS headers are
validated, start transmitting, buffering of a moment or two is OK. 

That, of course, is limited to the EAS device.  Downstream message
processing (putting our cable/IPTV hats back on) injects additional
latencies outside of whatever message processing time the EAS device
requires (remember, in cable/IPTV, we are in many cases reencoding into MPEG
or MPEG-DASH - so "immediate" is relative to the processing output.  But,
again, these are technical nuances that may not be appreciated by
policymakers.  Again "immediacy" is a relative term.  But I don't think it
means "immediate" gives you two minutes to transmit...