FCC ponders changes in digital era
WASHINGTON:
"This is a test of the Emergency Alert System. This is only a test. Had this been an actual emergency, we'd like to say that we know exactly what to do, but it's all a bit too confusing at the moment, and so much of this is purely voluntary, so please stand by. We'll be right back."
While it's unlikely the public will ever hear that sort of message except perhaps on Comedy Central, the Emergency Alert System's future role remains in flux as the FCC considers fresh industry input on how EAS should evolve, if at all, in the digital era.
Amid a dramatic run of natural and man-made catastrophes in recent years, notably Katrina and Sept. 11, it's perhaps easy to overlook the fact that despite any major emergency's dramatic emotional effect on tens of millions of people via the media, even the most horrific disasters in the United States have been local or regional in nature. That's significant because current EAS "rules" for local emergencies (including Amber Alerts for missing children, although tornado warnings are the most prevalent) are strictly voluntary, and can vary widely from state to state.
FEMA CALLING
The only mandatory EAS provision pertains solely to a real national catastrophe. And for all intents and purposes, it was created to serve only one federal official's immediate needs--the president. But because no catastrophic event has ever directly threatened the entire geographic United States, the original national aspect of EAS has never been fully tested on an end-to-end basis from the White House.
Theoretically, a national EAS signal is relayed from the White House to the Federal Emergency Management Administration, to nearly three-dozen key broadcasters as Primary Entry Points, which, in turn, are supposed to be monitored by more than 500 local primary stations, which are to be monitored by the estimated 24,000 local stations and cable systems. Critics say one massive power failure, i.e., along the Eastern seaboard, could place this complicated scenario in serious jeopardy.
On the local levels, there have been some moderate successes, including EAS usage in Florida during hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and some spectacular failures, including a series of train accidents over the past several years that raise questions about the effectiveness of EAS on the local level.
NAB, SBE SEEK CHANGES
In comments submitted for the latest FCC EAS rulemaking in late January, NAB reiterated its position that for delivery of emergency information to the public, "broadcasters continue to be the most reliable and robust means of distribution." In a digital EAS environment, it said, other wireless carriers could monitor local broadcasters to obtain digital EAS data and pass it on to their subscribers.
NAB opposes simultaneous audio translation of live EAS alerts into a second language, such as Spanish, because it could "likely impede" the delivery of timely information. This puts NAB at odds with the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association and other petitioners, who told the FCC that "multi-lingual EAS messaging is an integral component of [EAS]."
NAB told the FCC it favors a "uniform protocol" for EAS, but did not offer any recommendations on how to extract such a multi-industry protocol voluntarily. SBE, meanwhile, is seeking the adoption of the Common Alerting Protocol (an open, nonproprietary standard). Also, departing from the current daisy-chain notification system, both NAB and SBE favor creating point-multipoint distribution systems to disperse messages from their sources to systems that transmit emergency messages directly to the public.
"EAS has reached a point where simple modifications or band-aid approaches are no longer applicable," EAS Committee Chairman Clay Freinwald said in an SBE statement when the group's FCC comments were submitted.
A RHODES MAP FOR EAS?
"EAS doesn't exist even conceptually for DTV right now, but it could be handled with a single sentence," says engineering consultant and TV Technology columnist Charles W. Rhodes. "That sentence approved by the FCC only has to read, 'EAS shall be carried by all stations, analog and DTV.' Otherwise, all this is still voluntary at the local level."
Like NAB, Rhodes believes broadcasting is the most reliable and credible means of providing EAS alerts.
An engineer for more than 55 years, Rhodes says the current EAS is flawed in another way.
"The industry got the government to allow local stations up to 15 minutes to delay test messages because of so-called program considerations. Delaying a tornado or tsunami warning by 15 minutes is the difference between life and death for some people!" said Rhodes, who fears that allowing delays during tests would become routine for station personnel and, therefore, lead to problems during actual emergencies.
He said a better solution is to ask the Advanced Television Systems Committee to seek strong input from local broadcasters and "come up with a scheme so that we have 24/7 monitoring and end-to end continuous testing, which was not possible with analog." Rhodes detailed his EAS plan in his TV Technology column last October, which, among other things, calls for the optimum use of DTV's unique system of packets.
Rhodes suggests one set of EAS headers that could be incorporated into the ATSC terrestrial standard and transmitted with DTV bit streams would be unique; it would be normally carried from the White House to the key broadcasters to indicate EAS is actually in place and capable of operating in the event of an actual national emergency, such as widespread terrorism.
Thus, he said, it will be possible to continually monitor EAS, quickly isolate failures, and restore the system. Automated monitoring and logging would be extremely simple for broadcasters and the FCC, Rhodes said.
ATSC President Mark Richer refrained from commenting directly on the Rhodes proposal, but said Rhodes was welcome to propose it within the ATSC.
"It has been our view that the government should develop, or coordinate development, of a common digital EAS protocol that can flow over all media," Richer said. "ATSC is prepared to define the carriage mechanisms for ATSC streams and to coordinate our activities with other organizations."
Rhodes' EAS proposal online at: http://www.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0072/t.1645.html
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