FOX Television Stations Becomes First O&O Station Group to Join AWARN Alliance

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May 30, 2019, 12:30 ET

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FOX Television Stations has joined the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance, becoming the first major television O&O member of the coalition.

The Alliance is a coalition of commercial and public broadcasters, consumer electronics makers, tech companies, and trade associations that is developing a voluntary advanced emergency messaging capability using ATSC 3.0. It represents a voluntary public-private partnership for using Next Generation Television to provide a powerful new service for public safety.

"Our stations are dedicated to serving their communities, and nothing is more important than giving people the information they need to stay safe in emergencies. We support the Alliance's broader mission to develop a framework for providing emergency information beyond the initial alert. ATSC 3.0 will enable FOX Television Stations to use its local news assets as never before, and we are happy to add our voice to that initiative," said Richard Friedel, Executive Vice President of Engineering, Operations and Technology.

"On behalf of our whole coalition, I am very happy to welcome FOX as the first O&O group to join the AWARN Alliance," said John Lawson, executive director of the AWARN Alliance.

"This really adds to our momentum. Combined with their reach and expertise, FOX has the leadership and vision to make a positive and lasting impact with us. Along with their commitment to ATSC 3.0, FOX's support of AWARN means recognition of the power of this technology to serve their communities at a whole new level," Lawson said.

AWARN will be launching roundtable discussions with TV news thought leaders in the months ahead. The goal is development of a voluntary framework for packaging a TV station's news assets and using ATSC 3.0 to engage with viewers as their trusted information source across multiple devices.

About FOX Television Stations
FOX Television Stations owns and operates 28 full power broadcast television stations in the U.S. These include stations located in nine of the top ten largest designated market areas (DMAs), and duopolies in 11 DMAs, including the three largest DMAs (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). Of these stations, 17 are affiliated with the FOX Network. In addition to distributing sports, entertainment and syndicated content, our television stations collectively produce nearly 1,000 hours of local news every week. These stations leverage viewer, distributor and advertiser demand for the FOX Network's national content.

AWARN Alliance
The Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance is a cross-industry, international coalition formed to create the world's most advanced emergency messaging system. Members include commercial and public broadcasters who reach 90 percent of U.S. households, consumer technology makers, and B2B tech companies. AWARN is based on the Next Generation Television transmission standard (ATSC 3.0), which the FCC has approved for voluntary use by broadcasters. When fully deployed, AWARN can deliver geo-targeted, rich-media alerts to an unlimited number of enabled TVs, connected cars, and handheld devices even when cellular fails or the grid is down.

SOURCE FOX Television Stations