Broadcasting Off Air Nov. 9 2011 — All radio and TV broadcasts will be knocked off the air for about 3 minutes starting at 2 p.m., EST on Nov. 9 for the national test of the Emergency Alert System. The tests with which we are all so familiar with have been local ones.
Yes, the test will include cable, digital television and satellite radio.
“While most messages, such as tsunami or hurricane warnings, are limited
to 2 minutes by the EAS system, the Presidential message capability does
not have a time limit. So to evaluate if the system properly
interprets the Presidential message code in this test, the message
duration must be longer than two minutes in length,” FEMA says.
To it’s credit, FEMA made the announcement in June.
Is this something bad?