It turns out that using emergency warning tones in a TV commercial with images of the White House blowing up and the flashing words "THIS IS NOT A TEST" is frowned upon by the government.
The Federal Communications Commission said Monday it was fining three media giants $1.9 million for using the official warning tones in an ad for the movie "Olympus Has Fallen" that had some complainants jumping out of bathtubs and racing to the TV screen.
The companies have 30 days to contest the fines or pay up.
The ad aired 108 times on Viacom Inc. networks like BET and Comedy Central, 38 times on NBCUniversal channels like USA and SyFy and 13 times on The Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN in March 2013.
Viacom said in a statement it "regrets the airing of the advertisement" and is no longer accepting ads that use the signal, which is part of the nationwide Emergency Alert System. ESPN said it is assessing the FCC notice.
Mets’ victory over Brewers in NL Wild Card Series decider was ESPN’s most-watched game in 3 years
The New York Mets' 4-2 comeback victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night in the deciding game of the NL Wild Card Series averaged 4,017,000 viewers on ESPN and streaming, making it ESPN's most-watched Major League Baseball game in three years.
ESPN and Nielsen reported Friday that the audience peaked at 5.75 million viewers during the ninth inning, when the Mets rallied from a 2-0 deficit to reach the divisional round for the first time since 2015, when they reached the World Series.
It was the biggest audience for a playoff game on ESPN since the 2021 AL wild-card game, when the Boston Red Sox's win over the New York Yankees averaged 7.7 million.
This year's nine MLB Wild Card Series games averaged 2.82 million on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, a 25% increase over last year and a 1% gain from 2022.
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