Any condition (such as distorted or off-frequency transmission) that could interfere with other broadcast services would require immediate manual intervention to correct the fault or take the transmitter off the air.
[1] During the 1970s, the BBC made widespread use of automated systems on its UHF television network to switch from main to standby transmitters in the case of a fault, as well as to alert engineering staff to problems.
High-power stations that use desiccation pumps to put dry nitrogen into their feedline (to displace moisture for increased efficiency) can also monitor the pressure.
[7] If anything goes wrong which the ATS cannot handle, it can send out calls for help, via pager, telephone voice message, or dedicated telemetry links back to a fixed point such as a broadcast studio.
Other than possibly listening for dead air from the studio/transmitter link, an ATS does not cover the programming or the studio equipment like broadcast automation, but rather only the "transmitter plant".