The Federal Communications Commission has fined ESPN and Viacom a combined $1.4 million for broadcasting Emergency Alert System tones in the trailer for “Olympus Has Fallen”, a film depicting an attack on the White House released in 2013.
The FCC proposed a total fine of $1.93 million against NBCUniversal, ESPN and Viacom back in March, and NBCUniversal immediately paid its fine of $530,000, according to a statement from the commission. ESPN and Viacom requested reductions, which were rejected Tuesday.
Viacom was ordered to pay $1.12 million and ESPN will pay $280,000.
“The public relies on this system to prepare them for real emergencies,” FCC Enforcement Bureau chief Travis LeBlanc said in the statement. “Our action here sends a strong signal that use of the EAS tones for non-emergency purposes presents a danger to public safety which we will not tolerate.”
The trailer is still on YouTube and includes text in all caps stating “THIS IS NOT A TEST” and “THIS IS NOT A DRILL”.
The fines must be paid within 30 days.
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About Josh Gold-Smith
Josh is a staff writer and the resident video editor for Awful Announcing. He is also a news editor at theScore, based in Toronto. GIF has a hard G, Bridgeport Sound doesn't exist, and the jury's still out on #Vineghazi