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Emergency Broadcast System

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File:Ebs logo.jpg
A slide used by television stations during Emergency Broadcast System announcements and tests.

The Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) was an emergency warning system in the USA used from 1963 to 1997, at which time it was replaced with the Emergency Alert System.

Purpose

The EBS was initiated in 1963 at the height of the civil defense era to allow the president to address the entire nation in an emergency. EBS replaced the CONELRAD system instituted in 1951. The EBS was later further expanded through an interagency effort with the FCC and the National Weather Service (NWS) to permit the system to be used for state and local emergencies. The EBS was replaced by the Emergency Alert System, or EAS, which was initiated in 1994 and fully implemented nationwide in 1997.

Although the system was never used for a nuclear emergency, it was activated more than 20,000 times between 1976 and 1996 to broadcast civil emergency messages and warnings of severe weather hazards.

Until the system was superseded, radio and television stations were required to perform a Weekly Transmission Test Of The Attention Signal and Test Script on random days and times between 8:30 A.M and local sunset. Stations were required to perform the test at least once a week and were only exempt from performing the test if they had activated the EBS for a state or local emergency or participated in a coordinated state or local EBS test during the past week.

Test procedure

  1. Normal programming was suspended. Television stations would transmit a video slide such as the one illustrating this entry, although there were numerous designs were available over the years.
  2. One of the following announcements was transmitted
    • "This is a test. For the next sixty (or thirty) seconds, this station will conduct a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test."
    • "(name of host station in a particular market) is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test."
    • "This station is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test."
  3. The special attention signal was sent. The two-tone Attention signal (853 Hz + 960 Hz) was broadcast from the EBS encoder for 20 to 25 seconds.
  4. The announcement was transmitted. The first part of the announcement read: "This has been a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. The broadcasters of your area in voluntary cooperation with the FCC and other authorities (or, in later years, "federal, state and local authorities") have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of an emergency." Variations of the second half of the statement included:
    • "If this had been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed to tune to one of the broadcast stations in your area."
    • "If this had been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed where to tune in your area for news and official information".
    • "If this had been an actual emergency, the Attention Signal you just heard would have been followed by official information, news or instructions."
  5. The test concluded with one of the following phrases:
    • "(sponsoring station in a particular market) serves the (name of operational area) area."
    • "This concludes this test of the Emergency Broadcast System."
    • "This station serves the (name of operational area) area. This concludes this test of the Emergency Broadcast System."

These variations were heard in different parts of the country throughout the years depending on FCC regulations at the time, local preferences, and whether the specific station performing the test was a primary EBS station or not. At least one version made explicit reference to an attack on the United States as being a possible scenario for EBS activation. The announcement text was mandated by the FCC, including the "voluntary cooperation" clause. This was deceiving, as broadcast outlets were required by law to participate.

The purpose of the test was to allow the FCC and broadcasters to verify that EBS tone transmitters and decoders were functioning properly. In addition to the weekly test, test activations of the entire system were conducted periodically for some years before being discontinued. These tests showed that about 80% of broadcast outlets nationwide would carry emergency programming within a period of five minutes when the system was activated.

The weekly broadcast of the EBS test message made it part of American cultural fabric of the era. (There have been stories of how the EBS test message would scare children, particularly if the test were conducted during children-oriented programs, such as those shown on Saturday mornings. Such tests were even more creepy if the test pattern on the screen would show the Civil Defense logo.)

Network construction

The EBS was designed in a hierarchical system, with a relative handful of "primary" stations that had direct communications with the White House and regional authorities. These stations would originate emergency programming, while other stations would monitor the primary stations for EBS messages to rebroadcast. In a few areas, "primary relay" stations served as relay points between primary stations and other stations that were unable to receive a primary station's broadcast.

Activation procedure

Actual activations originated with a primary station, which would transmit the test tone. Decoders at relay stations would activate, alerting the station operator to the need for activation. Then each relay station would broadcast the alert tone and then commence rebroadcasting programming from the primary station.

To prevent inadvertent activations and abuse, a ten bell alarm would be transmitted by the AP and UPI wire services along with a confirmation password during nationwide activations. Stations who subscribed to one of the wire services were not required to activate EBS if the teletype was operating but did not have a confirmation.

Despite these safeguards, the system was accidentally activated at 9:33 AM EST on February 20, 1971. A system operator accidentally "played the wrong tape" during a test of the system. As a result, an EBS activation message authenticated with the codeword "HATEFULNESS" was sent through the entire system, ordering stations to shut down and broadcast the alert of a national emergency. A cancellation message was not sent until 10:00 AM EST. This false alarm demonstrated major flaws in the EBS system. Many stations had not received the alert but more importantly the vast majority of those that did ignored it. Numerous investigations were launched but few changes were made to the EBS.

See also

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