WASHINGTON, D.C.—Following a filing by the NAB asking the Federal Communication Commission to extend a waiver that delayed the implementation of some emergency alert rules, the FCC’s Media Bureau is seeking comment on the issue.
As previously reported, the NAB filed a request asking the FCC to extend a waiver that had delayed implementation of a rule that requires broadcasters to provide an aural representation of visual, non-textual emergency information, such as radar maps or other graphics, on a secondary audio stream. The FCC said that the request indicates that because the waiver expired during the comment period on the Petition, “numerous large television station groups have ceased the display of such weather radar maps and similar visual images,” which “will harm the public.”
The waiver expired on November 26, 2024 and Media Bureau now seeking comment on whether to grant a retroactive extension of the previous waiver.
The original rule was adopted on April 8, 2013, with an original effective date of May 26, 2015, but has been waived and delayed several times “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 filing.
In seeking comment on the request, the FCC said that "commenters should limit their submissions to the question of whether the Bureau should grant a retroactive extension of the waiver, and if so, the appropriate timeframe of such a waiver. Broader issues relevant to resolution of the Petition should be addressed in response to the November 25, 2024 Public Notice."
More information is available here.
