WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau has issued a Memorandum and Order once again delaying the implementation of the so-called “Audible Crawl Rule.” Implementation of the rule has been delayed six times in the past.

The rule applies to “video programming distributors and video programming providers,” including TV stations, who must “provide an aural representation of visual, non-textual emergency information that is displayed during non-newscast programming, such as radar maps or other graphics, on a secondary audio stream” for persons who are blind or visually impaired.

The rule was adopted on April 8, 2013, with an original effective date of May 26, 2015, but has been waived and delayed “to the present day because a technical solution for automated descriptions of the information in such graphics does not exist,” the NAB said in a Nov. 15 2024 filing.

As it subsequently examined the issue, the Media Bureau granted two temporary six-month extensions until May of 2026.

In granting a waver until November of 2027, the Bureau ruled that “the record shows `special circumstances’ warrant a waiver. The Bureau continues to recognize the critical importance of making emergency information accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. We find that the best way to ensure the continued availability of emergency information is to extend the waiver that has been in place since 2015. Compliance with the Audible Crawl Rule as it is currently written cannot be implemented through technical means with regard to visual but non-textual emergency information, and there is no indication that any such technical means will be available soon.”

“We grant the waiver for a 18-month period (through November 29, 2027) or until there is a ruling on the underlying Petition, whichever is sooner,” the Bureau added. “During the more than ten years that the successive waivers have been in place, the record indicates that there has been little progress in developing a workable technical compliance solution, and there is no indication of imminent progress. A 18-month waiver will allow the Commission to consider the pending Petition, and it will allow the industry to consider compliance solutions.”

The full Memorandum and Order is available here.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has levied a fine of $504,000 against Fox for “willfully violating” commission rules on transmitting EAS Tones during regular programming. The violation occurred during an NFL promotional segment aired Nov. 28, 2021.

Fox described the promotional segment as a “short comedic advertisement” for an upcoming game, which was aired as part of the Fox NFL Sunday pre-game show. The promo used an approximately three-second excerpt of the EAS Tone commonly used to precede broadcast emergency alerts: two simultaneous tones of 853 Hz and 960 Hz and the network admitted that the three-second excerpt had been downloaded or recorded from a YouTube video.  

The network acknowledged that it had not obtained permission to air the tones that were broadcast over 18 of its owned-and-operated stations, and transmitted to 190 network affiliated stations nationwide.  It was also broadcast on Fox Sports Radio and on the “Fox Sports on XM” channel on Sirius XM.

FCC warned that such use of EAS Tones when unwarranted could lead to “alert fatigue,” in which viewers will dismiss EAS Tones during actual emergencies. 

“Despite being shorter in duration than the full EAS Tones, the three-second EAS Tone used in the Promotional Segment possessed the same dual-tone frequency, pitch, and timbre as the actual EAS Tones, and was recognizable by viewers or listeners as substantially similar to the EAS Tones,” the commission said. “The Promotional Segment’s “comedic tone” also did not alter or neutralize its overall effect of falsely warning listeners and viewers of a non-existent emergency, as the EAS Tones were clearly audible, cognizable, and appropriated for a non-emergency use.  This manner of appropriation of the EAS Tones is exactly the type of simulation that the Commission’s rules seek to address and prohibit in order to avoid diluting the EAS Tones’ real meaning over time.”

Although fines starting at $8,000 are usually imposed by the commission, it said Fox’s violations were particularly egregious and deserved to be increased, noting that it was “not a minor violation.”

“Despite touting that it is fully knowledgeable and has a policy 'barring the improper use of the EAS Attention Signals,' which was purportedly 'made known generally to employees of Fox involved in the production of programming,' Fox admits that 'all personnel involved in creation and review of the Nov. 28 Segment … lacked full understanding of Fox’s policy against use of EAS Attention Signals.'”  

It also criticized Fox for the way it handled the situation afterwards, noting that the network was required to notify the commission within 24 hours after it discovered its mistake and that just sending an email to the commission was not made in “good faith.” 

Thirdly, it justified the fee increase by pointing out that Fox reported revenues of $4.44 billion in the relevant quarter. “Fox clearly has an ability to pay, and there is nothing in the record that would indicate that the penalty is otherwise excessive,” it said. 

Local tests of Wireless Emergency Alerts will be held in September.

The FCC says it is working with several dozen state and local government agencies to assess the tests’ accuracy, and it is asking wireless providers to provide information on their performance.

Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement, “Wireless Emergency Alerts are a life-saving tool, but emergency managers tell us that they need more information on the geographic accuracy of these alerts in order to use them with confidence.”

She said safety officials want to know that alerts will reliably reach the public “throughout — but not beyond — targeted areas during emergencies.” The tests are intended to assess geographic accuracy, reliability and speed.

For the tests on Sept. 12 and 13, each state and local agency partner will send a Wireless Emergency Alert to the public in a targeted local area that it selects.

[The list of test partners can be found on page 6 of the FCC order, and includes target test areas and test dates and times.]

The alert will sound and appear on compatible mobile devices using participating wireless networks in that area.

“The alert message will make clear that it is only a test and contain a link for the recipient to complete a survey about their receipt of the alert,” the FCC stated.

“Each agency will have a control group of volunteers in the targeted geographic area complete the survey, and members of the public may also do so.”

Authorities send WEA alerts through FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System to wireless providers, which push them on to compatible mobile devices. The FCC says participation by wireless providers is “voluntary but widespread.” Those providers must deliver the alerts to the area specified by the originator with no more than a 1/10 of a mile overshoot where technically feasible.

“According to industry estimates, approximately 60 percent of active smartphones in the U.S. support this ‘enhanced geotargeting’ functionality, with the number to increase as consumers replace their devices with newer models,” the FCC stated.

This is part of ongoing efforts by the FCC to improve WEA and EAS systems. In 2021 the commission worked with 11 agencies to assess the delivery of WEAs during a nationwide test.

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Federal Communications Commission has adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would improve the clarity and accessibility of visual Emergency Alert System messages to the public, particularly to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

In addition, the FCC has adopted a Notice of Inquiry and has launched an examination of broader measures to enhance the system’s overall functionality and accessibility.

In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted on December 14, the Commission proposed rule changes to improve the clarity and descriptiveness of the visual message that appears on television during nationwide Emergency Alert System tests in order to better inform members of the public who are unable to access the test’s audio message.

The FCC also proposed to require broadcasters, cable systems, and other Emergency Alert System participants to check for and use, when available, the internet-based version of alerts, which offer superior visuals, rather than the legacy “over-the-air” version when transmitting alerts to the public. 

In a Notice of Inquiry adopted on December 14, the Commission is seeking comment on whether the legacy Emergency Alert System architecture can be modified, augmented, or redesigned to enable government alert originators to relay more visual information as part of, or in parallel with, their alert message. 

The Commission is also seeking comments on ways to improve the legacy Emergency Alert System architecture to enable more functionality within the system as a whole.

In a statement on the need to improve the accessibility of the EAS system Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel noted that “late last week, a tornado tore through Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee,” providing “a stark reminder of just what devastating weather can do.”

“It is hard to know what kind of warning is adequate when freak weather like this comes along,” she admitted. “But we do know that we are seeing these kinds of storms with greater frequency.  And I think we have a responsibility to improve the warning systems we have, to get people the news they need in an emergency.” 

One problem with the existing system, she highlighted, was that when EAS alerts are displayed on the TV screen, “they have both an audio component and a visual component. In other words, they feature both a recorded message and a text crawl. But because of the legacy television architecture of EAS, the audio component may not always match the visual text. This can mean that in some circumstances, less information may be conveyed to either those individuals who have access only to the visual component or to those who have access only to the audio component,” which “can cause real confusion” and create problems for people with disabilities. 

To improve the system, Rosenworcel noted that “we propose to improve the script for visual text during nationwide tests of the legacy system” and make “changes to our rules that would bring similar clarity to nationwide tests using the newer, internet-based common alerting protocol, or CAP.  Then, because there is greater ability to include enhanced text with CAP alerts, we propose to require broadcasters to check to see if a CAP version of an alert is available when they receive an emergency alert over the legacy system.  Finally, we ask what additional steps can be taken to rethink the architecture of EAS and improve the functionality of the system as a whole.” 

As part of the inquiry into improving EAS, she stressed that “we're looking for all the good ideas here, both big and small, because we know first-hand they can make a difference.  In fact, the agency’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has been in close contact with FEMA, state and local emergency managers, carriers, and broadcasters in the states the tornado visited last week.  We know that improving outreach is vital and that keeping our alerting practices up-to-date is essential—and that is what we seek to do here.”

WASHINGTON—While acknowledging the benefits that would likely stem from expanding access to EAS alerts via internet services, including streaming platforms, NAB also does not believe that such an expansion is possible at this point in time.

The NAB shared its thoughts in comments to the FCC regarding the proposal to provide EAS alerts through the internet as laid out by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and the study that Congress requested of the proposition.

“At least for the time being, certain technical challenges and open policy questions make it extremely burdensome, and likely infeasible, to update the EAS system to enable alerts to consumers provided through the internet, including through streaming services,” NAB wrote.

Local broadcasters are the primary providers of EAS alerts currently and help ensure the reliability of the system, per NAB. While radio and TV stations are able to provide any alerts through their websites or through simulcasts of their stations, there are limitations. For instance, NAB says OTT viewers only get alerts when a station’s own programming is playing, meaning that no alert would appear during a commercial break like it would on traditional broadcast.

NAB says there are two main obstacles for pure-play online content streamers to participate in the existing EAS ecosystem. First, is the geographic service areas that streaming services offer, which are generally available wherever there is internet access. Streaming services do not typically incorporate any localized infrastructure that would allow them to monitor EAS alerts based on geography or even type, NAB argues. The association says streamers lack the infrastructure and local presence needed, and even if they did, the responsibility of monitoring such services across the country would likely be “extremely problematic.”

Second, NAB says that geo-targeting of EAS alerts would be “virtually impossible.” Most streaming services use software that does not specifically request or have access to a subscriber’s location data. As part of any installation of EAS equipment, streamers would need a tool for monitoring FIPS codes across the U.S. and to only deliver alerts to pertinent areas. “Such a mechanism neither exists nor could it be efficiently incorporated into current streaming systems.”

There are also potential issues with fixed-location internet service providers having trouble accurately pinpointing a user’s location, and the increase of consumers using virtual private networks to connect to the internet for increased privacy, with NAB saying 31% of current internet users rely on VPNs.

Without accurate location information, NAB believes that there could be instances where, for example, a viewer in Virginia sees an alert meant for California and becomes confused.

NAB says that this debate over expanding EAS to the internet is similar to the previous consideration of requiring EAS obligations to DBS providers, when the FCC recognized the technical difficulties that would require.

Beyond the technical obstacles, NAB says there are policy issues as well. Platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Spotify are generally unregulated by the FCC, it notes. In addition, many streaming services are based outside of the U.S. or are partially owned by foreign shareholders; and many streamers use hardware and servers that they do not directly control.

“All of these factors would raise questions of how the FCC could effectively extend the EAS rules to internet streamers, how streaming services could ensure the security and reliability of EAS operations and what would happen if they failed to execute EAS alerts,” NAB wrote.

NAB therefore believes that the FCC should report to Congress that enabling EAS alerts through the internet, and streamers, is “too complex and likely infeasible at this time.”

NAB’s full statement is available online. 

DENVER & NEW YORK—EAS alerts have been brought to the cloud by Digital Alert Systems, which has announced that it has integrated its EAS-NET communications protocol to the Kaltura TV Platform, a cloud TV service.

It is a requirement for North American operators and media companies to provide emergency alerts to viewers via their TV service. Through this integration, joint customers can comply with Emergency Alert System/Common Alerting Protocol regulations by providing critical emergency messages within their Cloud TV deployments.

Kaltura was able to support EAS-NET by boosting its push notification and in-app messaging capabilities. The Kaltura platform can now receive alert information over EAS-NET and dispatch the alert in real time to Cloud TV client applications, including mobile devices, managed STBs and unmanaged STBs. Viewers will be able to see the emergency messages as push notifications on connected screens when watching content or browsing on the app.

“We are in the business of helping our customers transform their legacy TV services into next-generation cloud and IP-based TV experiences,” said Gideon Gilboa, Kaltura senior vice president of product and marketing, Media and Telecom. “This includes all of the benefits of OTT—not only personalization, multiscreen apps and improved TCO and agility, but also the ‘nuts and bolts’ of traditional pay TV, such as EAS alerts.”