That's right, friends. On May 19th, while most in the industry will be at the NCTA Convention in New Orleans, the FCC is quietly, in almost a stage whisper, convening a summit on the future of the Emergency Alert System. The agenda for this shamefully timed conference is here in PDF format.
Here's the scoop:
Oh, right. I know. It's because broadcasters don't like EAS, because they have to maintain equipment for it that could be better used for reruns of American Idol or something. Considering that most Americans get their TV over Cable (to say nothing about the people that will be ABSOLUTELY SCREWED AFTER YOU AND THE NTIA BOTCH THE DTV TRANSITION NEXT FEBRUARY) I think it would be important to have people like representatives from Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Verizon, etc around to talk about a next generation Emergency Alert System. Maybe even the larger mobile phone carriers?
Maybe someone will notice this bone-headed scheduling conflict and fix it...but I doubt it.
Here's the scoop:
I'm sorry if I'm about to offend anyone at the FCC, but DO ANY OF YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AT ALL? IF SO, WHY SCHEDULE THIS WHEN MOST OF THE CABLE TELEVISION INDUSTRY WILL BE AT THEIR ANNUAL CONVENTION IN NEW ORLEANS?Washington, D.C. -The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safetyand Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) todayannounced the agenda for its upcoming Summit on the nation's Emergency Alert System (EAS):Promoting an Effective Emergency Alert System on the Road to a Next Generation EAS, to be held on Monday, May19, 2008, 9:00 a.m. -12:45 p.m., in the Commission Meeting Room (TW-C305).
In line with the Commission's 2007 Second Report and Order on EAS that was released last July, the panel discussions will focus on the current state of the nation's EAS and what is needed to transition to a more robust, Next Generation alert and warning system to help ensure that all citizens receive accurate and timelyinformation please see the attached agenda.
Oh, right. I know. It's because broadcasters don't like EAS, because they have to maintain equipment for it that could be better used for reruns of American Idol or something. Considering that most Americans get their TV over Cable (to say nothing about the people that will be ABSOLUTELY SCREWED AFTER YOU AND THE NTIA BOTCH THE DTV TRANSITION NEXT FEBRUARY) I think it would be important to have people like representatives from Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Verizon, etc around to talk about a next generation Emergency Alert System. Maybe even the larger mobile phone carriers?
Maybe someone will notice this bone-headed scheduling conflict and fix it...but I doubt it.
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