# Satellite Supports EAS, But Weary of Mandates



## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Satellite radio is willing to support the nationwide Emergency Alert System (EAS) but on a voluntary basis only, while one DBS provider said it's inappropriate for mandates requiring satellite TV delivery of local and regional emergency information, stated filings made at the Federal Communications Commission this week.

EchoStar told the FCC in its reply comments that it does not have the capability of receiving, processing and relaying alerts to and from local emergency areas, "and the difficulties of obtaining this capability are likely insurmountable," the satellite TV company said.

EchoStar said it will continue to work with the Media Security and Reliability Council to help address emergency communications needs. "It would not, however, be appropriate for the commission to mandate DBS participation in the EAS system on a state or local level, as the burdens associated with implementation would outweigh any benefit," the company said.

XM and Sirius have told the FCC in the past they are committed to voluntarily providing subscribers with national EAS alerts as well as providing state and local alerts for regions covered by their respective traffic and weather channels. XM also pointed out in its reply comments filed this week that it has a separate public safety/emergency alert channel dedicated to providing information before, during and after disasters and emergencies.

While it has local traffic and weather services, Sirius said in its comments the service faces technological challenges in delivering some locally-specific EAS information, as well as regulatory hurdles concerning use of its terrestrial repeater network. Due to the limitations, the company proposed to distribute local and regional EAS messages via the text box normally containing channel name and programming as well as pre-empting relevant channels normally used for local traffic and weather to transmit emergency information.

In its reply comments, XM proposed use of satellite-based infrastructure as an additional complement to the current EAS system, noting that satellite radio would help mitigate failures or problems occurring throughout the EAS distribution chain. XM also said satellite radio "may be the only source of emergency information in rural and remote areas."

http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Hmmmm.... doesn't both Dish and DirecTV send a data stream down each transponder? Based upon the location address, you could send down the subscriber ID along with the three-character EAS code and that gets displayed on the screen.

I seem to have asked about this in 2002. 

Of course, you could also purchase a halfway decent weather reason with EAS activation.


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## ddobson (Nov 25, 2003)

I'm not anti government but might sound like it here guys..

First Satellite was not allowed to broadcast any localized content because it made for "unfair" competition for AM/FM station. 

Now they are trying to MANDATE that they broadcast local information?

Can't have it both ways guys. Either let them broadcast local content or don't... 

I think it's insane to say they can't broadcast certain channels via terrestrial signal to localized areas and then on the other hand, 

"WELL IT'S OK AS LONG AS IT IS THE SPECIFIC CONTENT WE WANT YOU TO BROADCAST"

Shheeeeezzzzz


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

ddobson said:


> I'm not anti government but might sound like it here guys..
> 
> First Satellite was not allowed to broadcast any localized content because it made for "unfair" competition for AM/FM station.
> 
> ...


The local channels handle EAS don't they? The FCC seems to be nit Picking here. The NYC stations broadcast severe local weather alerts, and I see them.


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## wkomorow (Apr 22, 2002)

My understanding is that the EAS requirement would not be limited to local stations, but would be a scrawl on every channel within a specific region. The idea being that you might not be watching a local channel. This would indeed make it difficult for either Echostar of DirectTV, whereas it would be fairly simple for cable. I am not certain how satellite radio will handle this beyond their regionals weather and traffic stations.



Paul Secic said:


> The local channels handle EAS don't they? The FCC seems to be nit Picking here. The NYC stations broadcast severe local weather alerts, and I see them.


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## Dax (May 15, 2004)

Don't even get me started on this one. I live in the midwest, and I already have to spend an excessive amount of time viewing my network channels with weather maps, tornado warnings, and school closings on the screen. One drop of rain, anywhere in the viewing area, and it becomes a competition between the local affiliates to get the word out.

And it's not just weather, which arguably can be considered an emergency at times. But I've seen them interrupt the last few minutes of a program for some local news or sporting event - ten minutes before regular news time! 

Weather related school closings are the most infuriating. First of all it's hardly an emergency. Second, there are numerous sources for the information. Third, save it for news time. Each station broadcasts local news at least four times a day. They'd get more viewers if people had to tune in for school closing information. But when the information is being shown all evening during prime time programming, why bother. And it's not just a little crawler down at the bottom of the screen. Generally, they reduce the program to one quadrant of the screen, put their station ID in another, and run school closing information on half the screen. And it doesn't stop - except during commercials, of course.

Now if I could have access to distant network channels, I might have a chance of watching from some city where there isn't any bad weather. But no, the government says I'm not allowed to do that. It's unfair to the local affiliates. Meanwhile, local affiliates are monopolies of their respective networks. 

If the government succeeds in forcing satellite to bombard every channel with so called emergency information, I'll be in emergency due to excessive nosebleeds.


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