FCC fines ABC $395K over 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' emergency alert tones
WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday said Walt Disney Co's ABC unit has agreed to pay a $395,000 civil penalty after an October 2018 episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" used a simulated wireless alert tone.
AMC Networks separately agreed to pay a $104,000 fine for using an alert tone in a February 2019 episode of the "The Walking Dead." The commission handed down smaller fines to Discovery's Animal Planet and Meruelo Radio Holdings for other violations. The use of emergency alert system or wireless emergency alert tones are 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. (Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
