Author Topic: Game Show Terrors (Read 32707 times)

bscripps · « **Reply #90 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:38:21 AM »

When there is an actual emergency situation **in progress** (i.e. tornado warning, incoming attack, etc.), EAS activation is essential and helpful.

Yes, like an incoming attack on the World Trade Center towers. It was very helpful then.

If you can show me evidence that officials in a position to be able to activate a local EAS alert had specific information about either aircraft\'s plans prior to 9:03:02am, then I\'ll agree with you. But simply activating and saying \"Hey, there\'s another plane coming in and it\'s probably gonna crash into something, so everyone better evacuate\" or something similar would do nothing but create panic and confusion (considering people in the south tower were being told their building was secure).

But this is all second-guessing, and we can second-guess all day long and not get anywhere. I doubt that an EAS activation would have done any good in the morning, and it certainly wouldn\'t have done any good in the afternoon. You appear to disagree. Meh.

KrisW73 · « **Reply #91 on:** February 05, 2013, 02:00:23 PM »

RE: EAS and 9/11

I am 99% sure that I read in a report regarding how communcations on 9/11 were handled that Bush had considered activiating the EAS for the attacks on the towers, however the idea was scrapped because an Emergency Action Notification (or EAN) had a protocol of a black screen with no information being presented on the screen. TPTB decided since the national news was providing a running report of the attacks with video to leave well enough alone.

ObGameShow: Dragon\'s roar from TTD scared the heck out of me.

Steve Gavazzi · « **Reply #92 on:** February 05, 2013, 05:53:42 PM »

Those tests were more like 60 seconds, including the intro and outro narration. \"This is a test. This station is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test.\"

In fact, didn\'t it say outright, \"For the next 60 seconds, this station is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System?\"

Unrealtor · « **Reply #93 on:** February 05, 2013, 09:16:30 PM »

Re: My original comment, It wasn\'t an every-week or an every month thing to do the tests at 10 AM, but it happened enough times over the course of my childhood that I remember them as a 10:00 thing.

Re: 9/11, anyone who lives in the deep south or tornado alley and has a working weather radio will tell you that EAS as-is has a hard enough time keeping up with hazards the size and speed of supercell thunderstorms without also sending the same message to a lot of people who aren\'t in any imminent danger. An airplane would be even worse, especially in a densely-populated area when it would likely lead to a panic. Given that GPS and cell-tower triangulation are now relatively cheap, I\'m surprised that there isn\'t talk of moving to a system that allows finer-grained control over which areas to warn.

NickS · « **Reply #94 on:** February 05, 2013, 09:51:18 PM »

Those tests were more like 60 seconds, including the intro and outro narration. \"This is a test. This station is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test.\"

In fact, didn\'t it say outright, \"For the next 60 seconds, this station is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System?\"

There\'s variations of the EBS script but that is one of the openers.

TimK2003 · « **Reply #95 on:** February 05, 2013, 10:46:06 PM »

Those tests were more like 60 seconds, including the intro and outro narration. \"This is a test. This station is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test.\"

In fact, didn\'t it say outright, \"For the next 60 seconds, this station is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System?\"

There\'s variations of the EBS script but that is one of the openers.

The Official Script:

1) DISCONTINUE NORMAL PROGRAM
2) BROADCAST THIS ANNOUNCEMENT
\"This is a test. This station (optional -- insert station call sign) is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test.\"

(TV stations shall display an appropriate EBS slide and transmit all announcements visually and aurally in the manner required by Section 73.1250(h) of the FCC rules. Stations which provide foreign language programming may transmit emergency announcements in the foreign language prior to broaadcasting such announcements in English.)

3) TRANSMIT ATTENTION SIGNAL

Broadcast the two-tone Attention signal from the EBS encoder for 20 to 25 seconds (see Sections 73.906 and 73.940 of the Rules).

4) BROADCAST ANNOUNCEMENT
\"This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. The broadcasters of your area in voluntary cooperation with the Federal, State and local authorities have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency, (optional -- stations may mention the types of emergencies likely to occurr in their area) the Attention Signal you just heard would have been followed by official information, news or instructions. This station (optional -- insert station call sign) serves the (operational area name) area. This concludes this test of the Emergency Broadcast System.\"

sotcfan2004 · « **Reply #96 on:** February 06, 2013, 01:41:27 AM »

Or, if you prefer it to a beat...

Craig Karlberg · « **Reply #97 on:** February 06, 2013, 03:55:36 AM »

Or, if you prefer it to a beat...

That jingle really would\'ve worked best on a radio station, let alone a TV station.

The first time I remember hearing such a test was in 1972 or 1973(about the time I went to school im Batavia NY back then). If they did the tests at 10 AM, I was too busy with school. Of course, the EBS tones are scary enough as they were but at least it was an attention-grabber for sure.

Stevek83 · « **Reply #98 on:** February 06, 2013, 09:57:15 AM »

This is the best topic ever on this forum :-)

Nothing game show related from me but when I was a toddler, for some odd reason, the hollywoods finest logo from WNEW-TV 5, from the 80s, would scare me. Possibly because it was a marquee pasted on a black background. It\'s on YouTube and I first saw it again in 2005 and it obviously doesn\'t bother me anymore.

bscripps · « **Reply #99 on:** February 06, 2013, 10:45:44 AM »

That jingle really would\'ve worked best on a radio station, let alone a TV station.

Which is probably why WHEN-AM Syracuse used it on radio. Go figure.

For those who have never heard it...this is what a national EBS activation sounds like:

http://historyofwowo.com/audio/WOWO-Bob%20SieversEBS_02-20-1971_scoped.mp3

(courtesy of http://historyofwowo.com)

And the story behind it.

One of these days, I\'ll get around to scanning pages out of my 1967 EBS handbook. Just reading the \"ATTACK WARNING\" script is enough to send shivers down your spine...

TimK2003 · « **Reply #100 on:** February 06, 2013, 10:51:13 AM »

One other interesting thing about the old EBS tones via the radio stations:

In each of the radio markets where I worked, there was one station -- usually an AM station with the strongest coverage signal -- that was the primary EBS activator (or whatever the official term was). Anyhoo, in both of the stations I worked at, whenever the tones would be activated by said station, a device hooked up to our off-air cue speakers that would instantly simulcast that station\'s feed. To turn off that signal, we had to go into another room and hit a button to reset and mute the other station.

This was to ensure that we either heard immediately why the EBS tones were activated (test or storm warnings) so that we would relay the same information in a timely manner if it was within our coverage area. If we were on the air or stepped out of the booth and missed the announcement, then it would still be an indicator that something was going on and we had to go to the ol\' UPI News teletype to see what the tone was for.

Offshored2007 · « **Reply #101 on:** February 06, 2013, 01:49:04 PM »

I got another one - seeing Jack Barry in those creepy sunglasses hosting the 1976-1977 syndicated version of Break The Bank.

JMFabiano · « **Reply #102 on:** February 06, 2013, 06:57:41 PM »

Wish someone had the WABC version of the EBS from the \'80s up somewhere...the black background with \"TEST\" in the middle in bold, red font would add to the unsettling feeling, IMO.

Funny thing...I used to think the tone was when you were \"supposed to talk to the TV\" if there was an emergency. No, really. As such you can tell that EBS\'s truthfully never scared me. Kind of related, as it had to do with a weather report, but I was creeped out by an old WNBC slide for said report. It was just a cloudy sky with the moon in the middle, and \"WNBC Weather Report\" or similar in the \'80s News 4 New York font. I never saw it since though.

/ObGameShows: NBC was the king of daytime game shows in the \'80s. [Alberto Del Rio] But you already knew that. [/Alberto]

//Yes I am so passionate in that opinion that I actually quoted ALBERTO DEL RIO.

Thunder · « **Reply #103 on:** February 06, 2013, 11:03:51 PM »

Who the hell is ALBERTO DEL RIO?

trainman · « **Reply #104 on:** February 06, 2013, 11:04:01 PM »

In each of the radio markets where I worked, there was one station -- usually an AM station with the strongest coverage signal -- that was the primary EBS activator (or whatever the official term was).

Common Program Central Station.