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> ESPN has a history of noncompliance with the Commission’s EAS rules and was fined in 2015 and 2021 for EAS violations.

Sounds like the previous fines didn't sufficiently motivate the correct behavior unfortunately.

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The fine is a pittance. I usually scale these to a median household income, let's call it $80k. A quick Google says ESPN's revenue is $2.48B/y. To ESPN, this feels like how a $2.73 fine feels to a median household, or a $0.45 / instance fine.

As the article notes, it's the statutory maximum, so the FCC's hands appear a bit tied.

The fine is a signal that the FCC is paying attention. The FCC has a lot of power in addition to this fine and ESPN doesn't want to provoke them. If ESPN behaves badly enough, Congress can give the FCC what it needs. It's better business to just pay it, move on, and stop using the tones.

I would use Disney’s figures.

Oh I was definitely tempted to! But the ESPN-only revenue was already a stark enough contrast, and technically Disney only owns 80%. (Though I suppose you could do a weighted average of the two parent companies' revenues.)

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