emergency alert system weekly test

Here's why:

Station requirements

The FCC requires all broadcast stations and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) to install and maintain FCC-certified EAS decoders and encoders at their control points or headends unless they have been designated a non-participating station by the FCC. These decoders continuously monitor the signals from other nearby broadcast stations for EAS messages. For reliability, at least two source stations must be monitored, one of which must be a designated local primary. Stations are to retain the latest version of the EAS handbook.

Stations are required by federal law to keep logs of all received required monthly test, required weekly test, emergency action notification, and emergency action termination messages. Logs may be kept by hand but are usually kept automatically by a small receipt printer in the encoder/decoder unit. Logs may also be kept electronically inside the unit as long as there is access to an external printer or method to transfer them to a personal computer. While only the four aforementioned events are required by federal law to be logged, most stations log all received activations.

In addition to the audio messages transmitted by radio stations, television stations must also transmit a visual message. A text "crawl" is displayed at the top of the screen that contains all of the information encoded in the initial SAME header. A color coded "crawl" system is often used where the color signifies the priority of the message. Some television stations transmit only the visual message which is outside of the requirements. A television station may be used for monitoring by another station and thus the audio is necessary.

Participating stations are required by federal law to relay EAN (Emergency Action Notification) messages immediately (47 CFR Part 11.54).^[9] Stations traditionally have been allowed to opt out of relaying other alerts such as severe weather, and child abduction emergencies (AMBER Alerts) if they so choose.

Non-participating stations do not relay National messages. Instead they transmit a message instructing listeners/viewers to tune to another station for the information, and they must then suspend their operation.

System test

	NOAA Weather Radio MKE-KEC60 Weekly Test   Menu     0:00   The weekly Emergency Alert System test, usually initiated at 12 noon local time every Wednesday afternoon, as heard on Milwaukee's KEC60 on November 24, 2010.
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All EAS equipment must be tested weekly. The required weekly test (RWT) consists, at a minimum, of the header and the end-of-message SAME bursts. Though a RWT does not need an audio or graphic message announcing the test, many stations will provide them as a courtesy to the public. Television stations are not required to transmit a video message for weekly tests. RWTs are scheduled by the station, on random days and times, and are generally not relayed.

Required monthly tests (RMTs) are generally originated by the primary relay station, a state emergency management agency, or by the National Weather Service (NOAA/NWS) and are then relayed by broadcast and cable stations. RMTs must be performed between 8:30 a.m. and local sunset during odd numbered months, and local sunset to 8:30 am for even months. Received monthly tests must be re-transmitted within 60 minutes from receipt.Additionally, an RMT should not be scheduled or conducted during an event of great importance such as a pre-announced Presidential speech, coverage of a national/local election, major local or national news coverage outside regularly scheduled newscast hours or a major national sporting event such as the Super Bowl or World Series, with other events such as the Daytona 500 and Olympic Games mentioned in individual EAS state plans.