AMC, ABC, Discovery, Meruelo Enter $600,000-Plus FCC False-Alert Settlements

decrees and an advisory on the rules around using alert tones. All four offenders agreed to institute compliance plans to avoid repeat violations. “Use of actual or simulated EAS tones during non-emergencies and outside of proper testing or public service announcements is a serious public safety concern,” the release said. ABC’s infractions took place during an October segment of Jimmy Kimmel Live! ridiculing the 2018 nationwide test of WEA and presidential alerts. The segment involved faked wireless alerts from President Donald Trump -- per a New York Times article cited as a way the regulator learned of the infraction -- but apparently used real recorded WEA tones. ABC will pay $395,000 for the violation. AMC used EAS tones twice on a February episode of The Walking Dead, the decree said. An FCC employee who had watched the episode first reported it. AMC has agreed to $104,000. Meruelo included EAS tones among a number of other sound effects in an audio promotion it aired numerous times, and agreed to pay $67,000. A Discovery camera crew filming Lone Star Law caught footage and audio of a real WEA connected with Hurricane Harvey being received by the show’s subjects and included it in an episode. Discovery has agreed to pay $68,000. “False, fraudulent, or unauthorized use of the emergency alert system or wireless emergency alert codes or attention signals is strictly prohibited,” said the enforcement advisory.