🇺🇸United States

Six‑figure FCC forfeitures for EAS misuse and test failures

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Definition

Radio and TV stations incur large, recurring FCC penalties when they misuse EAS tones in programming or fail to properly transmit nationwide EAS tests. Recent cases include an $86,400 payment by a noncommercial broadcaster for airing EAS tones without an actual emergency and a proposed $369,190 fine against TV station KCWX for multiple years of improper nationwide test handling and false compliance reporting.

Key Findings

  • Financial Impact: $80,000–$400,000 per enforcement action; for repeat or multi‑year failures this can aggregate to $100,000+ per year across a group
  • Frequency: Annually (FCC issues multiple EAS‑related NALs and consent decrees each year, and violations often span multiple test cycles/years)
  • Root Cause: Stations use real or simulated EAS tones in promos and entertainment content in violation of 47 CFR §11.45, and fail to configure or maintain EAS encoders/decoders to correctly receive, log, and retransmit National Periodic Tests as required by Part 11. Inadequate compliance training, lack of active engineering oversight, and weak internal audits allow these violations to recur and go undetected until FCC investigation.

Why This Matters

This pain point represents a significant opportunity for B2B solutions targeting Radio and Television Broadcasting.

Affected Stakeholders

Station General Manager, Chief Engineer / Director of Engineering, Program Director, Production/Creative Services Director, Traffic & Continuity Manager, Corporate Compliance Officer, Legal & Regulatory Affairs Counsel

Deep Analysis (Premium)

Financial Impact

$80,000–$400,000 per FCC enforcement action for EAS tone misuse; $50,000–$200,000 for nationwide test failure penalties; aggregate $100,000+ annually across multi-facility operations • $80,000–$400,000 per FCC enforcement action for improper test transmission or false compliance reporting; recurring yearly risk with each nationwide test and ETRS deadline • $80,000–$400,000 per FCC enforcement action if misuse of EAS tones occurs; penalties for false or improper test reporting during nationwide tests

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Current Workarounds

Manual calendar coordination, informal email, phone calls to engineering; no centralized programming-compliance calendar • Manual checklists, email reminders, Excel tracking of compliance dates, memory-based procedures • Manual control room logs, paper checklists, operator memory, ad-hoc communication via email/phone with engineering

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Methodology & Sources

Data collected via OSINT from regulatory filings, industry audits, and verified case studies.

Related Business Risks

Rising EAS hardware and maintenance costs due to aging encoder/decoder ecosystem

$2,000–$8,000 per station per refresh cycle in hardware, installation, and engineering time; group owners with dozens of stations can see $50,000–$250,000 per upgrade wave

Engineering and operations capacity drained by manual EAS testing, configuration, and troubleshooting

$3,000–$10,000 per station per year in engineering labor and overtime for ongoing EAS checks, retests, and on‑site interventions; multi‑station groups can lose $50,000+ in productive engineering capacity annually

Strategic missteps from delayed EAS modernization and unclear software‑vs‑hardware choices

$10,000–$100,000+ per broadcaster over a 3–5 year horizon from stranded investments in hardware that becomes non‑compliant, parallel systems maintained during transitions, or rushed replacements prompted by new FCC rulings

Suboptimal Scheduling Due to Rights Data Gaps

Waste from inefficient programming (e.g., lost ad revenue)

FCC Fines for Non-Disclosure of Political Advertising Policies

$10,000-$100,000 per violation (historical FCC fines range)

Rights Clearance Failures in Syndication Scheduling

Fines and settlements (systemic risk from unvalidated workflows)

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