First Ever Nationwide Emergency Alert System Test Today

Every broadcast, cable and satellite TV station in the country, as well as all AM, FM and satellite radio stations, will sound an emergency alert warning at 12 p.m. Mountain time today (November 9th) in the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System.  And XL COUNTRY will participate at noon.

Although state and local communities regularly test their systems and use them to notify viewers and listeners about things like tornadoes or child abductions, this will be the first national test featuring a live "presidential" alert code that instructs stations that it takes priority over all other programming.

The 30-second test won't exactly be cutting edge, however, since no alerts are going to computers, landline or cell phones or other mobile devices. Some cable TV systems are worried, however, about alarming viewers who are deaf and hard of hearing, since, unlike broadcast and satellite TV, they can't put up a visual warning saying, "This is a test" over the government graphic. So they'll see only the message, "This is an Emergency Action Notification."