APM Pays The Price After BBC Program Airs Emergency Tones

American Public Media Settles With FCC Over False EAS Tones

A tornado near Cheyenne, Okla, in April 2012. Credit: Warren Faidley/Getty Images A program that aired on more than 500 U.S. noncommercial radio stations in 2023 contained Emergency Alert System tones in the absence of a real emergency, according to the FCC. American Public Media Group, the distributor of the program, agreed to a consent decree with the commission’s Enforcement Bureau on Dec. 10. APMG, the parent of American Public Media, a crea…

APM Pays The Price After BBC Program Airs Emergency Tones

American Public Media has received a particularly costly reminder of the FCC’s zero-tolerance stance on improper Emergency Alert System tone use after tones were inadvertently aired across nearly 550 public radio stations in the US in a BBC program.