On Thursday, September 13, 2012, WRAL-TV, the first commercial broadcast TV station to sign on-the-air with HDTV transmissions in 1996, will become the first commercial station to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed Mobile Emergency Alert System (M-EAS).   The new emergency technology can easily transmit video, audio, photos, maps, and text information to millions of people using mobile devices.

M-EAS will provide interactive, on-demand emergency information to mobile receivers equipped with mobile digital TV capability. The potential of the system includes mobile digital television devices, cell phones, tablet computers and other devices. This innovative technology requires no cell towers, no cell phone data plans, and no Internet access since it uses broadcast TV transmissions to reach millions of potential viewers with a single broadcast.

No other system has the capacity to deliver on-demand emergency messages to so many people simultaneously.  The system requires no additional radiofrequency spectrum and is an additional use of existing TV transmitters and towers.  Standard equipment used to upgrade stations for mobile DTV transmission is utilized. 

M-EAS is being standardized by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, building on the ATSC Mobile Digital TV Standard, which WRAL has been using for the past three years.

WRAL-TV plans a demonstration of the potentially life-saving technology this Thursday, during an event attended by emergency management personnel and public officials in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The event is being live-streamed Thursday, September 13, 6-7 p.m. EST on WRAL.com. Watch and tweet live: www.wral.com/11477194 using #WRALMEAS #MDTV

Thanks to WRAL-TV’s Debbie Tullos for this capcom story.