History Main / EmergencyBroadcast

The Emergency Broadcast is a means of public warning and public annoyance alike. Hearing an EmergencyBroadcast warning of actual danger may lead to OhCrap, MassOhCrap, the need for [[BringMyBrownPants one's brown pants to be brought]] - in that way it may be the ultimate BrownNote. On the other hand, a test or a warning of something that doesn't affect you (e.g. [[YourMileageMayVary a missing child warning,]] a flood when you're on high ground, a tsunami when you're 100 miles inland) may be a BerserkButton and lead to frustration with CryingWolf. Another frequent frustration is when an actual alert has such horrible sound quality you can't understand what's being said. In many countries, AtomicHate was the primary reason for the system's creation, and it eventually (and thankfully) ended up never being used for that purpose and being used for many others.

* In ''[=~Dexter's Laboratory~=],'' Dexter's favorite show [[ShowWithinAShow Action Hank]] was cut by a test of the EBS. Not knowing it was a test, Dex began solving every emergency he could find to get it to stop before realizing it was just a test.

* Used dramatically in the MadeForTVMovie Without Warning, which interrupts the opening of another, ostensibly unrelated TV movie to inform the viewer that a meteor is headed towards Earth.
* Used to let us know when passing into the DarkWorld in SilentHill. With a very creepy soundtrack, too...
* Used at the end of CountdownToLookingGlass.
* Shown briefly in Film/{{Testament}}

* Shown briefly in Film/Testament [[/folder]]

* Used as the end of CountdownToLookingGlass.

* Used as the end of CountdownToLookingGlass.[[/folder]]

* Used to let us know when passing into the DarkWorld in SilentHill. With a very creepy soundtrack, too...[[/folder]]

''This concludes this test of the Emergency Broadcast System. If this had been an actual emergency, you would have been advised to drop to your knees, grab you ankles, and kiss your ass goodbye.''

* Played for drama in ModernWarfare 2, where the intro sequence to the mission "Of Their Own Accord" is an emergency broadcast system alert containing evacuation instructions for residents of Washington, D.C and its commuter belt.

The Emergency Broadcast is a means of public warning and public annoyance alike. Hearing an EmergencyBroadcast warning of actual danger may lead to OhCrap, MassOhCrap, the need for [[BringMyBrownPants one's brown pants to be brought]] - in that way it may be the ultimate BrownNote. On the other hand, a test or a warning of something that doesn't affect you (e.g. [[YourMileageMayVary a missing child warning,]] a flood when you're on high ground, a tsunami when you're 100 miles inland) may be a BerserkButton and lead to frustration with CryingWolf. In many countries, AtomicHate was the primary reason for the system's creation, and it eventually (and thankfully) ended up never being used for that purpose and being used for many others.

A national EAS test was performed on November 11, 2010. It showed that nationally, the system needed a little work: Some cable providers switched to their EAS feed station (usually QVC or another HomeShopping channel) without showing the test, others didn't state that a test was happening, and Direct TV viewers were hearing LadyGaga instead of the test message.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCwffUO4C5E This tribute]] to ''{{Superfriends}}'' starts with a reporter in the middle of a catastrophe calling out for heroes.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCwffUO4C5E This tribute]] to ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' starts with a reporter in the middle of a catastrophe calling out for heroes.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCwffUO4C5E This tribute]] to ''WesternAnimation/Superfriends'' starts with a reporter in the middle of a catastrophe calling out for heroes.

All TV and radio stations are required to test their EAS systems at least once a month, with weekly tests required for feeder stations. Of course these tests usually warn that there's no actual emergency going on first. This has resulted in the phrase "This is a test. This is only a test" and the old two-tone EBS attention beep [[MemeticMutation becoming a part of popular culture]]. The new EAS alerts may or may not include a two-tone attention beep but always include an encoded ASCII string, repeated three times, which sounds like an old-school modem and is called a "chirp" in the business. The string contains specific information as to the type of alert (or test) and the location of the emergency. Some modern weather radios can be programmed to only activate the alarm for alerts that apply to where the radio's installed and only for hazards that would actually be of concern to the area. In some areas the EAS test is unannounced and contains only the three ASCII chirps.

* Radios and [=TVs=] broadcast a number of EBS warnings shortly before the attack sequences in ''TheDayAfter''. The broadcasts downplay the danger the public is in and are often ignored; one couple blithely sneaks upstairs to have sex as their young children watch an announcer struggle through an EBS alert. The last EBS announcement, broadcast as the sirens blare in Kansas City and residents downtown succumb to helpless panic, reassures listeners that there is no immediate danger but suggests that travellers in the metropolitan area take a moment to locate a nearby shelter.

* Radios and TVs broadcast a number of EBS warnings shortly before the attack sequences in ''TheDayAfter''. The broadcasts downplay the danger the public is in and are often ignored; one couple blithely sneaks upstairs to have sex as their young children watch an announcer struggle through an EBS alert. The last EBS announcement, broadcast as the sirens blare in Kansas City and residents downtown succumb to helpless panic, reassures listeners that there is no immediate danger but suggests that travellers in the metropolitan area take a moment to locate a nearby shelter.

* Used as a soundtrack of sorts to eerie effect in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G--NAOfOVr4 pre-attack sequences]] of ''TheDayAfter''

* The InsaneClownPosse album ''Bizzar'' opens with a news broadcast, which is upgraded into a nationwide emergency broadcast in its sister album ''Bizaar''.

** One VERY effective YouTube original horror creation is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWt4Di6zr14 this.]] It's the use of the NOAA weather radio emergency tone, civil defense sirens, and some very convincing voiceover work to create a very realistic (but thankfully still merely simulated) EmergencyBroadcast of a [[TheDeadliestMushroom nuclear attack]], all (except for ''one'' brief fast-forward shortly after the beginning) in [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel real-time]]. This *is* basically how it would happen if an attack wasn't a surprise. Sweet dreams.

* In ''[=~Dexter's Laboratory~=],'' Dexter's favorite show [[ShowWithinAShow Action Hank]] was cut by a test of the EBS. Not knowing it was a test, Dex began solving every emergency he could find to get it to stop.

*** This troper was watching one of these mock-ups with YouTube's hilariously inaccurate Transcribe Audio feature, and got [[http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/3998/snapshot20110125210259.png this]] rather unsettling image.

'''Canada:''' Only one province, Alberta, has an emergency warning system. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8cgwZxAT4Q The Alberta Emergency Public Warning System]] was planned after an F5 tornado tore through Edmonton, but was only picked up by all broadcasters after a F3 tornado destroyed a campground at Pine Lake. The EPWS serves to advise the public of imminent threats such as severe summer weather (tornadoes, thunderstorms, and floods) and civil emergencies, and also broadcasts AMBER Alerts. It generally is not used to disseminate less emergent weather alerts such as snowfall or blizzard warnings, as those are considered relatively common events during most of the winter (and spring, and...).

'''Australia:''' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM4gPCLzLO8 The Standard Emergency Warning Signal]], used primarily in Queensland to warn of cyclones, but now possibly being expanded for bushfires and terror threats in the rest of the country. Possibly, along with Japan's EWS, one of the few EmergencyBroadcast systems to originally be developed specifically for a weather/geological hazard rather than AtomicHate.