NAB again urged the FCC to stop cable operators from overriding o...

NAB again urged the FCC to stop cable operators from overriding or blocking local weather warnings. In a letter to FCC Chmn. Powell, NAB Pres. Eddie Fritts said a local weather broadcaster providing live coverage can see the signal overridden by a cable operator, often with outdated information. “We recognize the need for cable subscribers watching non-broadcast video programming to receive automated warnings of an impending weather situation, and current FCC rules allow cable operators to provide just that,” Fritts said. But cable shouldn’t be allowed to override emergency alerts by a local broadcast station, Fritts said. Cable overrides have been controversial. In 1997, former House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.), in a letter to then FCC Chmn. Reed Hundt, urged the FCC to stop the practice. The FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking concerning the effectiveness of the Emergency Alert System last week (CD Aug 5 p8). The Commission had previously said it would address emergency communications concerns. NCTA said the FCC has looked at the cable EAS issue several times already and has not accepted NAB’s argument on this issue in the past.