Viacom and ESPN fined for using emergency alert tones to advertise movie

[ZLoth]

From ARS Technica:

Viacom and ESPN fined for using emergency alert tones to advertise movie
"Olympus Has Fallen" ad used Emergency Alert System tones, bringing $1.4M fine.

Viacom and ESPN must pay $1.4 million to the government as punishment for airing a movie commercial that misused Emergency Alert System (EAS) warning tones.

The commercial for the 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen used actual emergency alert tones along with messages such as "This is not a test" and "This is not a drill." The Federal Communications Commission prohibits transmission of actual or simulated EAS tones except during real emergencies or authorized tests.

FULL ARTICLE HERE
FCC Press Release (PDF)
FCC Forfeiture Order (PDF)

[hotdogPi]

$1.4 million is nothing to them.

Try $14 trillion. Now the US government is almost balanced again.

[oscar]

Hopefully it's enough to make future ad producers or broadcasters ask "Does including the tones really make this ad millions of dollars more effective"?  Especially since a repeat offense (either by those companies or another) probably will draw a much larger fine.

[GCrites]

I had been listening to the demo version of "Sanctuary" by Iron Maiden for years before I heard the album version for the first time. I was driving, and there's a police siren during the bridge that I wasn't ready for. I nearly ran off the road. Despite Maiden's status as a British band it was an American-sounding siren.

I don't like that kind of screwing around.

[Pete from Boston]

$1.4 million is nothing to them.

Try $14 trillion. Now the US government is almost balanced again.

They should have let the ad run 100,000 times and then issued the fines.

[GCrites]

$1.4 million is nothing to them.

Try $14 trillion. Now the US government is almost balanced again.

$1.4 million is a massive fine relative to other broadcasting fines, though. I don't know if it's the biggest one ever, but it's up there. The nastiest on the regular fine list was "Lack of Candor" which carried a $300K fine when I was in broadcasting in the 2000s.

[SidS1045]

The nastiest on the regular fine list was "Lack of Candor" which carried a $300K fine when I was in broadcasting in the 2000s.

I'm still in broadcasting, and "lack of candor" now puts the license in direct peril.  The FCC has zero tolerance for being lied to.

[MikeTheActuary]

Hopefully it's enough to make future ad producers or broadcasters ask "Does including the tones really make this ad millions of dollars more effective"?

I would hope that these situations would also get powers that be thinking about the other problem with the tones -- the system is designed for over-the-air relay, and not every relay does a validation check.  Thus, when someone broadcasts the tones (even if it's just an advertisement or a recording of a prior occurrence), they can get picked up and rebroadcast on other stations.

[SteveG1988]

This was a problem in the past.

What happens is that the commercial gets aired on a Primary Entry Point (PEP) and it doesn't trigger anything there, but other stations depend on that station to get the word that an EAS has been activated. If the tones are close enough, the computers will kick off the station.

http://radiomagonline.com/currents/news/arco-oil-radio-ads-false-eas-header-0909/

[Brian556]

Heck, I don't like that Britney Spears yells "STOP" in the middle of "Drive Me Crazy" To me this could cause someone, particular an older person not familiar with the song to slam on the brakes and cause an accident. People need to think about what they are doing more, and how it could negatively impact others.

[NE2]

I don't like that MC Hammer says "hammer time". This could cause someone to pick up a hammer and start smashing windows.

[Pete from Boston]

Heck, I don't like that Britney Spears yells "STOP" in the middle of "Drive Me Crazy" To me this could cause someone, particular an older person not familiar with the song to slam on the brakes and cause an accident. People need to think about what they are doing more, and how it could negatively impact others.

Sure thing, Larry David.