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Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
Those behind the warnings in Canada have announced the next test of our Emergency Alert System that will interrupt all radio and TV stations and cause your phone to buzz uncontrollably, will come next Wednesday, Nov. 25th, at 12:55 PM.
At least this time, radio stations will be warned well in advance. All too often, the alerts go off without the on-air talent being able to hear them and they blithely go on with their commentaries or interviews as if nothing had happened, primarily because they're listening to the local board feed through their headphones and not what's actually going out on the air. (I'm not sure I've ever heard one of them interrupt a commercial. Hmm, why is that?)
Knowing it's coming, I'll be curious to hear if they'll actually be able to warn their listeners and halt programming in time to let it happen smoothly.
Here's the schedule for the entire country. 
Oh, for the good old days of "This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System" that used to air for a minute and a half on American TV in the 60s and 70s. Thankfully, the 15-20 secs. of tone outside of those announcements, which alternately used to confuse and terrify me as a little kid, were never needed for anything. 
- RadioActive
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
Just a reminder that today's test day. Your phone, TV and radio will all be interrupted at 12:55 PM, provided things go as planned. Hopefully the stations are ready for it and announcers won't be cut off in mid-word. I suppose Evan Solomon will get to keep talking through it - as a national show, he'll be on in markets where it won't go off at the same time.
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Thread Starter- betaylored
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
RadioActive wrote:
Just a reminder that today's test day. Your phone, TV and radio will all be interrupted at 12:55 PM, provided things go as planned. Hopefully the stations are ready for it and announcers won't be cut off in mid-word. I suppose Evan Solomon will get to keep talking through it - as a national show, he'll be on in markets where it won't go off at the same time.
It's at times like this I really miss Stafford's pithy comments about the whole rigamole around the emergency tests.
note to self: read the thread headlines on the big yellow board before posting a "new thread" 😌
also: I would love an explanation of why we sometimes get the emergency tests and amber alerts on our phones and sometimes not when the phone and phone settings don't change ?!?
Last edited by betaylored (November 25, 2020 8:56 am)
- ED1
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
Does anyone know why CBC TV does not participate in these test activations? The last few test runs I've seen, CBC didn't show the alert.
- Glen Warren
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
Just saw/heard the test on tee wee... and yes, CBC did display the alert test... hoped around T.O. channels OTA, and the only one I did not see the test run on was TVO Ch. 19.
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
I noticed most of them had it, as well. But why was the big red banner that crawled across the screen on CBLT in French only?
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Thread Starter- mace
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
My phone went off promptly at 12:55. I was watching CTV NEWS and the alert occurred during a commercial break. The red banner ran across the screen several times occupying roughly 25% of the screen. Interesting that the program audio returned after the first scroll run. In my opinion, a vast improvement compared to when the system was first introduced.
- splunge
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
my ontario cell got the alert right on time at 12:55.... however my friend has a quebec phone number and is in gatineau.... also got it at 12:55 and not 1:55 as the chart above lists for that province. waiting to see if they get it again in an hour.
wondering if that's a glitch or maybe because gatineau is so close to ottawa that the alert system recognizes it as part of ontario?? any thoughts?
- Forward Power
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
Got it at exactly 12:55 on the Hwy 17 corridor near Arnprior. My father-in-law is just across the river, on the Quebec side, and sometimes he'll receive Ontario alerts *and* Quebec alerts when his phone's linked to the Shawville (QC) tower. He's on the Ontario side this afternoon, and he got the 12:55 test on his 'droid.
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
Wish I'd thought to check this. Does the Alert also air on the Internet feed if you're listening to a radio station online?
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Thread Starter- ED1
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
Wish I'd thought to check this. Does the Alert also air on the Internet feed if you're listening to a radio station online?
From my experience, usually that's the case. I was listening to CBC Radio One Toronto online, and the alert came through their stream.
- torontostan
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
my ontario cell got the alert right on time at 12:55.... however my friend has a quebec phone number and is in gatineau.... also got it at 12:55 and not 1:55 as the chart above lists for that province. waiting to see if they get it again in an hour.
wondering if that's a glitch or maybe because gatineau is so close to ottawa that the alert system recognizes it as part of ontario?? any thoughts?
As alluded to by someone else, it has less to do with your area code and more to do with the location of the tower your phone is connected to. I once received a weather alert while travelling in the US with my Canadian phone.
- Prod Guy
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Re: Emergency Alert Coming To Radio./TV Nov. 25th But Will Stns. Prepare?
Wish I'd thought to check this. Does the Alert also air on the Internet feed if you're listening to a radio station online?
From my experience, usually that's the case. I was listening to CBC Radio One Toronto online, and the alert came through their stream.
It depends on whether they stream the board feed or the air feed. If it's the air feed you get the alert. In the case of CBC Radio One, some of their podcasts are created through an automatic process which records and uploads the Toronto air feed. I have heard an alert many hours later on a podcast recorded at the time the alert went out.
Last edited by Prod Guy (November 26, 2020 1:01 am)