Amendment from November 25, 2005
47 CFR--PART 11
View Printed Federal Register page
70 FR 71031 in PDF format.Amendment(s) published November 25, 2005, in 70 FR 71031
Effective Date(s): Dec. 31, 2006 or May 31, 2007
3. Amend §11.11 by revising paragraphs (a), (b) and (e) to read as follows:
§ 11.11 The Emergency Alert System (EAS).
(a) The EAS is composed of analog radio broadcast stations including AM, FM, and Low-power FM (LPFM) stations; digital audio broadcasting (DAB) stations, including digital AM, FM, and Low-power FM stations; analog television broadcast stations including Class A television (CA) and Low-power TV (LPTV) stations; digital television (DTV) broadcast stations, including digital CA and digital LPTV stations; analog cable systems; digital cable systems which are defined for purposes of this part only as the portion of a cable system that delivers channels in digital format to subscribers at the input of a Unidirectional Digital Cable Product or other navigation device; wireless cable systems which may consist of Broadband Radio Service (BRS), or Educational Broadband Service (EBS) stations; DBS services, as defined in 47 CFR 25.701(a) (including certain Ku-band Fixed-Satellite Service Direct to Home providers); SDARS, as defined in 47 CFR 25.201; participating broadcast networks, cable networks and program suppliers; and other entities and industries operating on an organized basis during emergencies at the National, State and local levels. These entities are referred to collectively as EAS Participants in this part, and are subject to this part, except as otherwise provided herein. These rules in this part are effective on December 31, 2006 for DTV, DAB, digital cable and SDARS providers, and on May 31, 2007 for DBS providers. At a minimum EAS Participants must use a common EAS protocol, as defined in §11.31, to send and receive emergency alerts in accordance with the effective dates listed above in this paragraph and in the following tables:
Analog and Digital Broadcast Stations-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FM Class D Class A TV EAS equipment requirement AM & FM Digital TV AM & FM DTV \1\ LPTV \2\ LPFM \3\ \4\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Two-tone encoder \5\ \6\..... Y Y 12/31/06 Y Y 12/31/06 N N NEAS decoder.................. Y 1/1/97 Y 12/31/06 Y 1/1/97 Y 12/31/06 Y 1/1/97 Y 1/1/97 Y YEAS encoder.................. Y 1/1/97 Y 12/31/06 Y 1/1/97 Y 12/31/06 N N NAudio message................ Y 1/1/97 Y 12/31/06 Y 1/1/97 Y 12/31/06 Y 1/1/97 Y 1/1/97 Y YVideo message................ N/A N/A Y 1/1/97 Y 12/31/06 N/A Y 1/1/97 N/A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\1\ Effective December 31, 2006, digital FM Class D stations have the same requirements.\2\ LPTV stations that operate as television broadcast translator stations are exempt from the requirement to have EAS equipment. Effective December 31, 2006, digital LPTV stations have the same requirements.\3\ LPFM stations must install a decoder within one year after the FCC publishes in the Federal Register a public notice indicating that at least one decoder has been certified by the FCC. Effective December 31, 2006, digital LPFM stations have the same requirements.\4\ Effective December 31, 2006, digital Class A TV stations have the same requirements.\5\ Effective July 1, 1995, the two-tone signal must be 8-25 seconds.\6\ Effective January 1, 1998, the two-tone signal may only be used to provide audio alerts to audiences before EAS emergency messages and the required monthly tests.
Analog Cable Systems [A. Analog cable systems serving fewer than 5,000 subscribers from a headend must either provide the National level EAS message on all programmed channels_including the required testing_by October 1, 2002, or comply with the following EAS requirements. All other analog cable systems must comply with B.]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- System size and effective dates----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >=5,000 but B. EAS equipment requirement >=10,000 subscribers <10,000 subscribers <5,000 subscribers----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Two-tone signal from storage device... Y 12/31/98 Y 10/1/02 Y 10/1/02EAS decoder \3\....................... Y 12/31/98 Y 10/1/02 Y 10/1/02EAS encoder \2\....................... Y 12/31/98 Y 10/1/02 Y 10/1/02Audio and Video EAS Message on all Y 12/31/98 Y 10/1/02 N channels.Video interrupt and audio alert N N Y 10/1/02 message on all channels,\3\ Audio and Video EAS message on at least one channel.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\1\ Two-tone signal is only used to provide an audio alert to audience before EAS emergency messages and required monthly test. The two-tone signal must be 8-25 seconds in duration.\2\ Analog cable systems serving <5,000 subscribers are permitted to operate without an EAS encoder if they install an FCC-certified decoder.\3\ The Video interrupt must cause all channels that carry programming to flash for the duration of the EAS emergency message. The audio alert must give the channel where the EAS messages are carried and be repeated for the duration of the EAS message.Note: Programmed channels do not include channels used for the transmission of data such as interactive games.
Wireless Cable Systems (BRS/EBS STATIONS) [A. Wireless cable systems serving fewer than 5,000 subscribers from a single transmission site must either provide the National level EAS message on all programmed channels including the required testing by October 1, 2002, or comply with the following EAS requirements. All other wireless cable systems must comply with B.]------------------------------------------------------------------------ System size and effective dates------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. EAS equipment requirement >=5,000 subscribers subscribers <5,000------------------------------------------------------------------------EAS decoder...................... Y 10/1/02 Y 10/1/02EAS encoder \1\ \2\.............. Y 10/1/02 Y 10/1/02Audio and Video EAS Message on Y 10/1/02 N all channels \3\.Video interrupt and audio alert N Y 10/1/02 message on all channels; \4\ Audio and Video EAS message on at least one channel.------------------------------------------------------------------------\1\ The two-tone signal is used only to provide an audio alert to an audience prior to an EAS emergency message or to the Required Monthly Test (RMT) under § 11.61(a)(1). The two-tone signal must be 8-25 seconds in duration.\2\ Wireless cable systems serving < 5,000 subscribers are permitted to operate without an EAS encoder if they install an FCC-certified decoder.\3\ All wireless cable systems may comply with this requirement by providing a means to switch all programmed channels to a predesignated channel that carries the required audio and video EAS messages.\4\ The Video interrupt must cause all channels that carry programming to flash for the duration of the EAS emergency message. The audio alert must give the channel where the EAS messages are carried and be repeated for the duration of the EAS message.Note: Programmed channels do not include channels used for the transmission of data services such as Internet.
Digital Cable Systems [A. Digital cable systems serving fewer than 5,000 subscribers from a headend must either provide the National level EAS message on allprogrammed channels including the required testing by December 31, 2006, or comply with the following EAS requirements. All other digital cable systems must comply with B.]------------------------------------------------------------------------ System size and effective dates------------------------------------------------------------------------- >=5,000 <5,000 B. EAS equipment requirement subscribers subscribers------------------------------------------------------------------------Two-tone signal from storage Y 12/31/06 Y 12/31/06 device \1\.EAS decoder \3\.................. Y 12/31/06 Y 12/31/06EAS encoder \2\.................. Y 12/31/06 Y 12/31/06Audio and Video EAS Message on Y 12/31/06 N all channels \4\.Video interrupt and audio alert N Y 12/31/06 message on all channels,\3\ Audio and Video EAS message on at least one channel.------------------------------------------------------------------------\1\ Two-tone signal is only used to provide an audio alert to audience before EAS emergency messages and required monthly test. The two-tone signal must be 8-25 seconds in duration.\2\ Digital cable systems serving <5,000 subscribers are permitted to operate without an EAS encoder if they install an FCC-certified decoder.\3\ The Video interrupt must cause all channels that carry programming to flash for the duration of the EAS emergency message. The audio alert must give the channel where the EAS messages are carried and be repeated for the duration of the EAS message.\4\ All digital cable systems may comply with this requirement by providing a means to switch all programmed channels to a predesignated channel that carries the required audio and video EAS messages.Note: Programmed channels do not include channels used for the transmission of data such as interactive games or the transmission of data services such as Internet.
SDARS and DBS------------------------------------------------------------------------ EAS equipment requirement SDARS DBS------------------------------------------------------------------------Two-tone signal \1\.............. Y 12/31/06 Y 5/31/07EAS decoder...................... Y 12/31/06 Y 5/31/07EAS encoder...................... Y 12/31/06 Y 5/31/07Audio message on all channels \2\ Y 12/31/06 Y 5/31/07Video message on all channels \2\ N/A Y 5/31/07------------------------------------------------------------------------\1\ Two-tone signal is only used to provide an audio alert to audience before EAS emergency messages and required monthly test. The two-tone signal must be 8-25 seconds in duration.\2\ All SDARS and DBS providers may comply with this requirement by providing a means to switch all programmed channels to a predesignated channel that carries the required audio and video EAS messages or by any other method that ensures that viewers of all channels receive the EAS message.
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(b) Analog class D non-commercial educational FM stations as defined in §73.506 of this chapter, digital class D non-commercial educational FM stations, analog LPFM stations as defined in §§73.811 and 73.853 of this chapter, digital LPFM stations, analog LPTV stations as defined in §74.701(f), and digital LPTV stations as defined in §74.701(k) of this chapter are not required to comply with §11.32. Analog and digital LPTV stations that operate as television broadcast translator stations, as defined in §74.701(b) of this chapter, are not required to comply with the requirements of this part. FM broadcast booster stations as defined in §74.1201(f) of this chapter and FM translator stations as defined in §74.1201(a) of this chapter which entirely rebroadcast the programming of other local FM broadcast stations are not required to comply with the requirements of this part. International broadcast stations as defined in §73.701 of this chapter are not required to comply with the requirements of this part. Analog and digital broadcast stations that operate as satellites or repeaters of a hub station (or common studio or control point if there is no hub station) and rebroadcast 100 percent of the programming of the hub station (or common studio or control point) may satisfy the requirements of this part through the use of a single set of EAS equipment at the hub station (or common studio or control point) which complies with §§11.32 and 11.33.
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(e) Organizations using other communications systems or technologies such as low earth orbit satellite systems, paging, computer networks, etc. may join the EAS on a voluntary basis by contacting the FCC. Organizations that choose to voluntarily participate must comply with the requirements of this part.
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