The FCC’s Public Safety Bureau and Homeland Security Bureau has released its report on the National Test conducted on October 4, 2023. Overall, broadcasters did a good job with a 93.6 transmission rate, a significant improvement from the 2021 test. According to the Report:
“The test message was received by 96.6% of EAS Participants (increase from 89.3% in 2021). The overall retransmission success rate was 93.6% (increase from 87.1% in 2021). This significant improvement is likely due to initiation of the 2023 test alert via Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), which introduced additional resiliency that was not available during the over-the-air-only 2021 nationwide test.”
In terms of filing, the FCC ERTS forms participation rate was significantly higher than previous years.
“Excluding duplicate filings, EAS Participants made 20,682 unique filings, with a participation rate of 81.7% up from 75.3%, in 2021. Radio broadcasters had a participation rate of 85.1%, up from 79.9% in 2021.”
Overall, the performance of those stations participating improved significantly. This is largely due to a better base of CAP equipment. Nonetheless, while there were fewer performance issues, the report found that 23% of EAS Participants in the 2023 test used outdated software, leading to a lower success rate among those participants.
The report makes specific recommendations regarding the need to improve performance. Moreover, we expect the FCC to move forward with a number of EAS-related proposals.
You can access a copy of the Public Safety Bureau’s Report on the National Test here.