PBS Testing Mobile DTV For Emergency Alert Overhaul

PBS will start testing a mobile DTV-based emergency alert system later this year, the noncom service announced in Las Vegas, calling it "the first major overhaul of the nation's aging Emergency Alert System (EAS) since the Cold War." The alerts could be delivered to "cell phones, tablets, laptops and netbooks, as well as in-car navigation systems." PBS said it will work with FEMA, the FCC, and other agencies in creating the pilot project. Broadcasters have been arguing that they need to keep their spectrum options open when it comes to new services like mobile DTV.