WASHINGTON—In response to an effort by the Federal Communications Commission to “modernize” existing systems for alerting people during emergencies, the NAB has laid out a number of proposals for improving the systems while preserving the important role that radio and TV broadcasters play in the current system.
“NAB supports the FCC’s further consideration of ways to enhance EAS, while preserving and promoting the legacy EAS system as a critically important redundant failsafe backup,” the filing said. “Broadcasters take pride in their unique role in EAS, and look forward to partnering with the FCC, FEMA, and other stakeholders on future enhancements that would increase public safety."
As part of its proposals for improving the system the NAB’s filing proposed the following measures and laid out its position on these issues:
- The FCC should consider ways to enhance the effectiveness of alert originators. As part of that the NAB said it supports more AO funding, training, and collaboration.
- Government agencies should maintain exclusive authority to issue eas alerts.
- The FCC should preserve the existing presentation of EAS alerts while considering voluntary options for enhanced video-rich alerts.
- EAS participation should remain mandatory only for presidential alerts.
- Redundancy is the most effective way to ensure resilience.
- In addition, the NAB said it supports improving the geotargeting of EAS alerts and would support efforts to enhance the security of EAS.
- The NAB also supports consideration of approaches to expanding EAS to additional media platforms.
The NAB's defense of the role played by broadcasters is important because the FCC’s original Notice of Proposed for updating alerting systems said that the agency would examine a wide variety of issues and attempt to completely reexamine existing approaches.
Those issues included, the FCC said in the NPR, an examination of whether broadcasting should continue to play a central role in any new system given the ongoing shift from traditional radio and TV to streaming and mobile devices.
“EAS, for instance, was originally designed to continue operating when traditional communication methods are not functioning and alerts can only be delivered via independently powered broadcast facilities,” the NPR noted. “Does this approach to EAS resiliency remain necessary today? Are there other alternative communications pathways that EAS and WEA can leverage to ensure redundancy? Should EAS and WEA both be independently resilient (i.e., having multiple redundant pathways within EAS, as well as within WEA) or is it sufficient for EAS to provide a redundant source of alerts to WEA and vice versa? Could existing public alert and warning infrastructure be made more resilient by increasing the interoperability of EAS and WEA (e.g., by enabling mobile devices capable of receiving a WEA to receive EAS alerts when cellular infrastructure is damaged)?”
It noted that “the nation’s alerting system is successfully and reliably reaching Americans as they incorporate more and more wireless devices into their everyday lives. The integration of wireless phones into consumers’ lives means that the shift in behavior from traditional television and radio to online media and connected devices does not frustrate the alerting “systems’ objectives of widespread public notification about emergencies.”
“CTA’s data demonstrates that most Americans receive emergency and public safety information through WEA to mobile devices, not terrestrial radio or broadcast television,” the CTA also noted. “In 2023, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and FCC conducted a nationwide EAS and WEA test with the goal of ensuring that the system continues to be a successful means of communicating emergency information to the public…In the days immediately following this test, CTA Market Research conducted a survey to understand the method for how U.S. adults received/heard the emergency alert on October 4, 2023. The survey indicates that approximately 245 million U.S. adults (95%) received/heard the October 4 emergency alert via their phone. Specifically, 92% of U.S. adults (approximately 237 million) indicated they received the alert through their smartphone. The results of this survey illustrate the ubiquity of cellphones and smartphones and the effectiveness of the WEA system in reaching device users.”
The original NPR also makes no mention of public media, which has traditionally played an important role in alerting or ATSC 3.0, which has a number of features for advance alerts. In a separate filing ATSC laid out its position on how NextGen TV could help in the design of a new system.
In its filing, the NAB said “Broadcasters applauded the FCC for launching this proceeding. Of the many ways that television and radio broadcasters serve the public interest, none is more important than the critical role we play in protecting the safety of our viewers and listeners. The architecture of the broadcasting system is particularly resilient and enables local stations to reliably distribute emergency warnings and information to virtually all Americans. Recent events such as Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the Texas Hill Country floods, and the Los Angeles wildfires all underscore the importance of broadcasters during a disaster, as well as Congress’s decision to formally designate broadcasters as `first informers’ in 2018. Broadcasters lead the way in ensuring the integrity of EAS through routine testing and investing in new and upgraded EAS equipment, including updates mandated by regulation. And while broadcasters are proud to champion EAS, NAB respectfully reminds the Commission as it considers the ideas raised in the Notice that participation in EAS is essentially an unfunded government mandate.”
