- TAB Talks EAS Future at Aug. 6-7 TAB Show

The FCC has released its draft of proposed rulemaking that could result in significant changes to the current Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert system (WEA).

The FCC said the rulemaking, which is on the commission's Aug. 7 meeting agenda will examine the national alert and warning systems "from the ground up and explore ways to make them more effective, efficient, and better able to serve the public's needs."

Attorney David Oxenford of TAB Associate member law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer said the rulemaking seeks to identify "what steps the FCC should take to modernize EAS, which entities should be allowed to send alerts via EAS, how well EAS is currently working in practice, and whether other changes should be made to better serve the public."

The discussion is timely in light of the devastating flooding in the Texas Hill Country that killed more than hundred.
Initial examination of warning systems indicates that EAS, when used by the National Weather Service, performed flawlessly.

Spotty reception of cellular service in the area, however, meant that WEA-based messages issued by the NWS did not always reach those who needed to heed them most.

Part of the discussion of EAS modernization will focus on the technology involved.

Since the rollout of the modern Emergency Alert System (EAS) on Jan. 1, 1997, broadcasters have relied on hardware-based EAS encoder/decoder devices produced by a limited number of companies.

As EAS has evolved over the ensuing 28 years, upgrades have required purchases of new equipment and/or firmware updates.

Earlier this year, the National Association of Broadcasters petitioned the FCC to "allow, but not require, Emergency Alert System (EAS) participants to use software-based EAS encoder/decoder (endec) technology instead of a legacy physical hardware device to process EAS messages."

While there have been vocal detractors of this idea, the NAB's petition makes it clear that "any products or systems used to implement this option must function seamlessly within the legacy EAS system, as well as existing broadcasting systems and equipment." Additionally, "baseline EAS functionality must not be impacted," and the "use of any resulting products or systems must not be mandatory, only voluntary, and only implemented pursuant to the good faith judgment of each EAS Participant."

The future of EAS is one of many topics that will be explored at the 2025 TAB Show Aug. 6-7 at Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in Round Rock.

Review session topics and register here.

TAB will present an Aug. 6 afternoon session, the Changing Forecast for EAS, at 5pm in the Texas Broadcast Museum Room.

It features Davina Sashkin of TAB Associate member law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer, Ed Czarnecki of Digital Alert Systems, Marc Jaromin of Futuri Media, and Matthew Straeb of Alert FM/GSS. TAB's Michael Schneider will moderate.

The panel will explore how emergency alerting is evolving as industry players shift product strategies and new AI-based technologies ramp up.

Questions? Contact TAB's Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.