Successful Advanced Emergency Information Roundtables Show Potential for ATSC 3.0 Alerting

Posted on December 16, 2022 in ATSC News

One of the key capabilities of ATSC 3.0 will be to enhance targeted emergency information available for viewers, and building bridges between broadcasters and public safety organizations is one of the key functions of AWARN – the Advanced Warning and Response Network – run by longtime public media advocate John Lawson.

AWARN just completed its Washington, D.C. community roundtable, and the first in the nation’s capital, following successful gatherings in hurricane hotspot New Orleans and the wildfire region near Santa Barbara.  The next sessions are planned for Raleigh, NC on January 24 and 25.

More meetings are on the drawing board.  Lawson says the community meetings have proven the value of bringing together emergency managers with broadcasters for face-to-face sessions with the support of the state broadcasters associations, under the umbrella of what’s possible with ATSC 3.0.

“Advanced Emergency Information makes the jobs of TV newsrooms simpler by warning viewers in a very geo-targeted way without interrupting programming for everyone else.  The service could provide digital content for multiplatform distribution by opening up access to rich media produced by alerting authorities, such as evacuation routes, flood maps, road closures, images of missing children, and more.  There’s also the potential to reinforce the ‘first informer’ positioning of local TV broadcasters, and it offers a clear consumer benefit that could help drive adoption of ATSC 3.0 receivers,” Lawson explains.

“The idea for the roundtables grew out of focus groups done back in 2018.  It became very clear that there was an appetite for more dialogue between emergency managers and broadcasters.  I think there’s a real open-mindedness to roll up your sleeves and figure out how a voluntary system might work.  The discussions have made it very clear that Advanced Emergency Information is a use case for ATSC 3.0 that has great potential,” Lawson said.

“There’s no ‘silver bullet’ for alerting, but ATSC 3.0 offers broadcasters and emergency managers a powerful new tool. The technology is empowering but the roundtables are really about relationships – and rebooting the broadcaster and public safety relationships.  It comes down to trusting each other and the way that information is handled, ” Lawson concluded.

Posted in ATSC News