Lady Gaga song plays in place of emergency alert

By Erica Perdue

The emergency alert test last week didnt work as well as planned in some areas, unless Lady Gaga and the home-shopping network signify a national emergency to some viewers.

According to The New York Times and emergencymgmt.com, some DirecTV subscribers said their television sets played the Lady Gaga song Paparazzi when the test was supposed to be under way.

Some Comcast subscribers said their TVs switched over to the home-shopping network, QVC, during the alert.

There were some Time Warner Cable subscribers who said they never saw any form of a test. The audio on several TVs was muted for a couple of hours after the test failed.

The test was scheduled for 2 p.m. Nov. 9. It was the first-ever nationwide emergency alert system test.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association conducted the test as an ongoing effort to strengthen the process.

This nationwide test served the purpose for which it was intended to identify gaps and generate a comprehensive set of data to help strengthen our ability to communicate during real emergencies, said Damon Penn, FEMAs assistant administrator for National Continuity Programs.

Based on preliminary data, media outlets in large portions of the country successfully received the test message, but it wasnt received by some viewers or listeners.