--- title: Jimmy Kimmel and Walking Dead Fined for Emergency Alerts description: Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Walking Dead have been fined by the Federal Communications Commission for misusing emergency alert system tones. canonical: https://time.com/5653985/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-08-16T15:41:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:59:57.676Z og:title: Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Walking Dead Fined for Fake Emergency Alerts og:description: The FCC expressed concern over "alert fatigue" og:url: https://time.com/5653985/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc84fa82eeb887b2b/698a01858fd2eef3a235ff5c/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jimmy-Kimmel-Walking-Dead-Emergency-Alerts og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Walking Dead Fined for Fake Emergency Alerts twitter:description: The FCC expressed concern over "alert fatigue" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc84fa82eeb887b2b/698a01858fd2eef3a235ff5c/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ and _The Walking Dead_ Both Got Fined 6 Figures for Fake Emergency Alerts  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 16, 2019 3:41 PM UTC  Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EDT and features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band. Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EDT and features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band.Randy Holmes/ABC—Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 16, 2019 3:41 PM UTC Both [_Jimmy Kimmel Live!_](https://time.com/5590349/these-two-five-year-olds-just-schooled-jimmy-kimmel-on-the-subject-of-love/)and [_The Walking Dead_](https://time.com/5443439/walking-dead-rick-grimes-last-episode/)have been hit with six-figure fines by the Federal Communications Commission for misusing [emergency alert system tones](https://time.com/5414349/fema-alert/). In a [statement](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-359101A1.pdf) released Thursday, the FCC announced that it had reached settlements with several companies, including ABC and AMC, that total $600,000 in civil penalties. ABC will have to pay $395,000 for an episode of _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ that used the Wireless Emergency Alert tone three times in a sketch mocking the [presidential alert system](https://time.com/5400574/presidential-alert-donald-trump-fema/). AMC will pay $104,000 for a February episode of _The Walking Dead_ that broadcast an Emergency Alert System tone twice In a [public notice](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-19-758A1.pdf) that was also released on Thursday, the FCC expressed concern that the use of the tones “for nonauthorized purposes—such as commercial or entertainment purposes—can confuse people or lead to ‘alert fatigue,’ whereby the public becomes desensitized to the alerts, leading people to ignore potentially life-saving warnings and information.” Animal Planet’s _Lone Star Law_ and Meruelo Radio Holdings were also fined for similar violations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5653985/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5653985/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts/"},"headline":"Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Walking Dead Both Got Fined 6 Figures for Fake Emergency Alerts","datePublished":"2019-08-16T15:41:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:59:57.676Z","description":"The FCC expressed concern over \"alert fatigue\"","url":"https://time.com/5653985/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","The Walking Dead","TV","jimmy kimmel live","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc84fa82eeb887b2b/698a01858fd2eef3a235ff5c/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc84fa82eeb887b2b/698a01858fd2eef3a235ff5c/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jimmy-Kimmel-Walking-Dead-Emergency-Alerts","caption":"Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EDT and features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band.","creditText":"Randy Holmes/ABC—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5653985/jimmy-kimmel-walking-dead-emergency-alerts/","name":"Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Walking Dead Both Got Fined 6 Figures for Fake Emergency Alerts"}}]}] ```