Abstract: A television signal receiver having an emergency alert function provides a masked list of emergency events during a user setup process for the emergency alert function which makes the setup process easier for users, and also ensures that the emergency alert function will be activated when certain important emergency events occur. According to an exemplary embodiment, the television signal receiver includes a memory operative to store data associated with the emergency alert function. A processor is operative to receive an input representing a geographical area and to enable generation of a masked list of emergency events responsive to the input using the data in the memory. The masked list of emergency events represents a subset of all emergency events associated with the emergency alert function.