WASHINGTON—During the latest national test of the Emergency Alert System, more than 80% of television broadcasters successfully received the National Periodic Test alert, and then 75.5% of those retransmitted the code, which was on the lower end of all other participants.

That’s according to initial results of the 2019 Nationwide Test of Emergency Alert System released Dec. 9. This public notice includes “aggregated, anonymized data” derived from the Form Three filings submitted by EAS participants.

This annual test is intended to assess whether the EAS would perform as designed, an increasingly important question as some debate whether the current system is the best way to keep citizens informed in the smartphone age.

A total of 19,607 EAS participants spanning radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, Internet Protocol Television providers, wireline video systems and others reported they received the alert, and 15,986 then retransmitted it. Radio broadcasters make up the majority of EAS participants at 13,940, followed by the 2,717 television broadcasters and the 2,626 cable system providers.

Interesting, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau noted that nearly half of those who reported receiving the alert said that they were monitoring three or more over-the-air sources at the time. Almost 70% of participants who filed Form Three indicated that there were “no complications” in receiving the test, but about 12% said there were issues with the test’s audio quality. Also, nearly 75% indicated there were no complications during the retransmission, although a small minority said they encountered “other” difficulties.

Read the public notice (DA 19-1244) online here.

WASHINGTON—With the most recent nation-wide EAS Test having taken place on Aug. 7, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has issued a reminder to all of the test’s participants that there is still work to be done. All participants are required to file Form Three in the EAS Test Reporting System on or before Sept. 23.

Form Three requests information on post-test data regarding the nationwide test, including things like the source from which a facility first received the test message and any complications that might have been experienced in the receipt or retransmission of the test.

The provided information will be used to inform the FCC on the technical and operational performance of test that could indicate improvements needed to make EAS a reliable alerting tool.

Information on how to appropriately provide information via the ETRS form is available on the FCC website. Filers can also contact FCC staff at ETRS@fcc.gov.