The Walking Dead gets hit with a 100k FCC fine

The Walking Dead just got hit with a major FCC fine, and you’ll never believe why. Well, unless you’re well-versed in FCC regulations, but the odds seem pretty long on that one.

Anyway, according to Deadline, the FCC levied fines on The Walking Dead and two other shows because they improperly used the Emergency Alert System tones. Also dinged were ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Animal Planet’s Lone Star Law. I can’t wait to see what jokes Kimmel has about this situation.

The Walking Dead was fined specifically for using the tone twice in the season 9 episode “Omega.” That episode featured an extended an extended flashback to the start of the show’s zombie apocalypse, which is why the emergency sirens were ringing out. AMC will have to pay $104,000, along with an admission of “guilt” and a plan to be more compliant.

Here’s the FCC’s official explanation for the fines:

"We remain concerned about the misuse of the EAS codes and EAS and WEA Attention Signals, or simulations thereof, to capture audience attention during advertisements; dramatic, entertainment, and educational programs, and at any other time that there is no genuine alert, authorized test, or authorized PSA about the EAS or WEA that is accompanied by an appropriate disclaimer. The FCC may issue sanctions for such violations, including, but not limited to, monetary forfeitures."

Basically, the tones are only supposed to be used in the case of a real emergency, not one made up for TV. But I am confused as to how someone could mistake an emergency tone in a zombie show for the real thing. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Plus, we get loud alerts on our phones when things are really going down, so I think the public would know the difference. Just saying.

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In other The Walking Dead news, it looks like there will be a time jump when season 10 begins. Today, AMC released an image showing Rosita changing her baby’s diaper while Eugene, being real mature about it, plugs his nose in disgust:

Basically, this means we’re gonna skip over a good chunk of Rosita’s pregnancy, and who knows what else has happened in that time? Here’s AMC’s official synopsis:

"It is now spring, a few months after the end of season 9, when our group of survivors dared to cross into Whisperer territory during the harsh winter.The collected communities are still dealing with the effects of Alpha’s horrific display of power, reluctantly respecting the new borderlines being imposed on them, all while organising themselves into a militia-style fighting force preparing for a battle that may be unavoidable.But the Whisperers are a threat unlike any they have ever faced. Backed by a massive horde of the dead, the Whisperers are seemingly a fight the survivors cannot win.The question of what to do and the fear it breeds will infect the communities and give rise to paranoia, propaganda, secret agendas, and infighting that will test them as individuals and as a society."

But at least the weather is nicer?

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h/t Forbes, Digital Spy