FCC Proposes $146K ESPN Fine for Using Emergency Tones in NBA Promo

The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that ESPN deserves the maximum penalty for playing Emergency Alert System sounds over the airwaves last fall to promote the upcoming NBA season.

The FCC proposed a fine of $146,976 for six violations on three different dates in October 2023. It’s against the law to send out emergency tones outside of authorized instances of emergencies, PSAs, and test runs. The FCC says ESPN “apparently willful and repeatedly” played the emergency sounds.

“ESPN admits that ESPN producers ‘likely … obtained the portion of the EAS Attention Signal recordings from a publicly available YouTube video,’ and that its producers, and potentially other ESPN production staff, reviewed the Promo Spot before its initial transmission in 2023,” the FCC’s proposal states. “After the initial airings, ESPN believes that ‘some members of the production team may have discussed the presence of the excerpt of the EAS Attention Signals in the Promo Spot, but they apparently did not comprehend that its use was prohibited.’ ESPN notes that it ‘is taking this opportunity to revisit its internal review processes and reeducate its personnel’ regarding the FCC’s EAS rules.”

What exactly was the nearly $150,000 promo? Emergency sounds played for about two seconds, followed by a narrator saying, “We interrupt our program to bring you this important message.” ESPN said the voice-over had an “exaggerated, stentorian tone,” according to the FCC’s proposal.

It isn’t the first time ESPN has gotten in trouble with the FCC over emergency tones. The company paid $280,000 in fines in 2015 (for 13 times playing an ad for Olympus Has Fallen that had EAS tones) and $20,000 in 2021 (for rebroadcasting 30 for 30: Roll Tide/War Eagle, which included a short emergency sound). “We find ESPN’s prior history of EAS violations to be a significant factor to consider in determining the proposed forfeiture in this case,” the FCC said Thursday.

“Transmitting EAS Tones in the absence of an actual emergency is not a game,” FCC enforcement bureau chief Loyaan Egal said in a statement about the proposed fines. “These types of violations can raise substantial public safety concerns by causing confusion and in some cases interfering with legitimate emergency uses. Today’s proposed fine reflects the FCC’s commitment to keep the lines clear when it comes to the proper use of tools broadcasters are entrusted with to assist the public during an emergency.” 

ESPN has 30 days to pay the full amount or submit a request to lessen or scrap the fine. The network declined to comment on this story.