[Sixstrings]

UPDATE 6 2:49pm: National Journal's Marc Ambinder tweets: FEMA official concedes "glitch"; says that it appears (maybe) to be related to how satellite and cable providers prepped their equipment.

UPDATE 7 2:59pm: Some DirectTV customers reported hearing Lady Gaga's “Paparazzi” play during the test. Some Comcast subscribers saw their cable boxes turn to QVC before the alert, while Time Warner Cable customers in New York did not see any alert at all.

UPDATE 8 4:05pm: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman released this statement to Business Insider:
"The weaknesses exposed by today's test of the emergency alert system are unacceptable. Government and media carriers must work together to make sure the system does what it is intended to do, which is to transmit a nationwide message from the President in a crisis. I commend FEMA for carrying out this long-overdue, first-ever, nationwide test of the system. Without it, we would never have known the extent of the system's vulnerabilities."
http://www.businessinsider.com/attention-your-tv-is-about-to-be-taken-over-by-the-government-2011-11-1

What's ironic here is that the networks are very quick with breaking news all on their own, while this EAS system apparently doesn't work. If they hadn't tested this and there were an emergency, broadcasters couldn't have intervened to inform the public, all while a scrambled Lady Gaga plays on and on, or the TV randomly gets stuck on Home Shopping Network.

[DomusAlbion]

"while a scrambled Lady Gaga plays on and on"

Doesn't that alone constitute a National Emergency!

[KrellEnergySource]

I scanned my Verizon FIOS-fed TV during the alert today. The local network stations were silent with a slide showing that the test was underway. Turn to channel 665 and HGTV is still telling us how we need to update our serviceable kitchens the the newest countertops and stainless steel appliances...no indication that the test was underway.

But....I had to turn on my TV to see what was going on in terms of the nationwide test. I, like so many others, was logged into Facebook and surfing the internet. If that's our information medium, doesn't it seem like we should have all gotten a non-blockable pop-up? At least something in the Facebook and Twitter streams to all US subscribers?

Also, if sirens blew, I didn't hear them. Shouldn't that be the first thing, so that people know to turn on the TV.

Brian

[Fiddlerdave]

I think you are living in the past with the "sirens" thing, unless you are by a nuclear plant or in tornado alley, perhaps.

[KrellEnergySource]

I think you are living in the past with the "sirens" thing, unless you are by a nuclear plant or in tornado alley, perhaps.

http://www.cityofcarrollton.com/index.aspx?page=272

[Oakley]

How many people would really be saved from injury or death as a result of this system? Look at 9-11; countless government officials and employees were aware that planes had been hijacked but they could not act fast enough to stop the carnage.

It takes time to assess situations. I bet that one of the TV networks could get information out on their own than the government emergency alert system could.

This is just another illusion that the American public is fed to make them think that the government protection racket works.

[JohnRM]

No, Lady Gaga is exactly what I'd expect to hear at the end of the world.