US proposes to fine ESPN $147,000 over improper emergency tones in NBA promotions

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday it was proposing to fine Walt Disney (NYSE:)’s ESPN network $147,000 for violating rules on broadcasting emergency alert tones during promotional segments for the start of the 2023-2024 NBA season.

The use of the alert system or wireless emergency alert tones for any purpose other than official notifications is barred by FCC rules “to avoid confusion when the tones are used, alert fatigue among listeners, and false activation of the system by the operative data elements contained in the alert tones,” the agency said.

ESPN declined to comment.

ESPN has a history of noncompliance with FCC rules and paid a fine of $280,000 in 2015 and $20,000 in 2021 for emergency alert violations, the FCC added, which was a factor in the size of the fine.

The promotional spot was aired six times in October 2023 and ESPN told the FCC it included a “brief, less than two second excerpt” of the emergency signals followed by a voiceover stating in an “exaggerated, stentorian tone, that ‘We interrupt our program to bring you this important message.'”

Last year, the FCC proposed fining Fox Corp $504,000 over the use of the emergency tones during a November 2021 NFL promotional segment.

In 2019, Disney’s ABC paid a $395,000 fine over the use of simulated wireless alert tones used in a “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” skit making fun of a presidential alert test.

AMC Networks (NASDAQ:) also paid a $104,000 fine in 2019 for using an alert tone in a February 2019 episode of the “The Walking Dead,” while Discovery (NASDAQ:) paid a $68,000 civil penalty because an episode of Animal Planet’s “Lone Star Law” contained an actual wireless emergency alert tone.