FCC Slams Jimmy Kimmel with Six-Figure Fine for Sketch Mocking Presidential Alert System
Jimmy Kimmel Gets Brutal News After Mocking President
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By Randy DeSoto
Published August 16, 2019 at 11:24am
The Federal Communications Commission announced on Thursday that ABC had been fined $395,000 for a sketch aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live, which includes tones from the Emergency Alert System.
The system is used on television and cell phones to warn people of impending emergencies, such as tornadoes or floods.
The Kimmel sketch called The Texting, which aired Oct. 3, 2018, included the EAS tone multiple times.
The FCC explained in a Thursday news release the use of the actual tone during non-emergencies is a serious safety concern.
The FCCs rules prohibit such broadcasting of EAS tones including simulations of them except during actual emergencies, authorized tests or authorized public service announcements, the release reads.
These rules aim to protect the integrity of the alert system by helping to avoid confusion when the tones are used, alert fatigue among listeners, and false activation of the EAS by the operative data elements contained in the alert tones.
MarketWatch reported the same day the Kimmel sketch aired millions of phones across the country had received a presidential alert reading: THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.
On his program that evening, Kimmel introduced the segment saying, The idea of letting President Trump send a text message to every American whenever he wants to may sound like a bad idea, and it is a bad idea.