WRAL-TV Announces M-EAS Demo Plans

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WRAL-TV announced on the station’s website that at 6 p.m. EST on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012 itwould become the first commercial television station to demonstrate M-EAS. 

M-EAS uses a station's existing robust ATSC A/153 mobile DTV stream to send alerts and additional information, which could include maps with critical emergency information such as tornado paths, to mobile DTV receivers. ATSC has started efforts to bring M-EAS into the A/153 mobile DTV standard – see ATSC Launches Mobile Emergency Alert Standardization Effort.

“Public service is a local broadcaster’s highest duty,” said Steven Hammel, WRAL-TV’s vice president and general manager. “The future of local television is mobile. It’s important that our citizens and our government know this technology is viable for free using the mobile broadcast spectrum. All it needs is government adoption and the mass production of receivers to deliver it. This technology will save lives in a crisis.” 

This week's test results should be available on the WRAL-TV website.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung
Contributor

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack. A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.