For the second time in less than three months, the FCC has proposed fines against Turner Broadcasting Systems for transmitting advertisements that mimic the warning sounds used by the nationwide Emergency Alert System. The penalty against Turner Broadcasting Systems is for $200,000. According to the FCC statement, “The EAS is a national public warning system that requires broadcasters, cable television operators, wireless cable operators, wireline video service providers, satellite digital audio radio service providers, and direct broadcast satellite providers to make it possible for the President of the United States to address the American public during a national emergency. Federal, state, and local authorities may also use the EAS to deliver important emergency information, such as Amber Alerts and weather information, like tornado warnings, targeted to specific areas. The FCC has long prohibited the transmission of actual or simulated EAS Attention Signals or tones in circumstances other than a real alert or an authorized test of the EAS system. However, there has been a recent spike in consumer complaints. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau initiated an investigation in response to multiple consumer complaints about a commercial on Turner’s Adult Swim cable network. The complaints described a Best Buy advertisement promoting the release of an “A$AP Rocky” album. Turner provided a recording of the advertisement, review of which established that it included audio material that constitutes a simulation of the EAS tones.”
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