Everything You Wanted to Know About TV Captions

Editor: OK, maybe not EVERYTHING, but here's a great summary of television captioning information and requirements from the FCC. For more information on the FCC's captioning rules and requirements, go to www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro, and click on closed captioning.

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Background

Closed captioning is a technology that provides visual text to describe dialogue, background noise, and sound effects on television programming. As of July 1993, all television sets with screens 13 inches or larger sold in the United States must have built-in decoder circuitry that allows viewers to display closed captions on their sets. In 1996, Congress passed a law requiring video program distributors (cable operators, broadcasters, and satellite distributors) to phase in closed captioning of their television programs. Viewers may select to watch closed captions through their remote controls or on-screen displays. The new law does not require captioning of home videos or video games.

Benefits of Closed Captioning

Closed captions provide a critical link to news, entertainment, and information for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, enabling these individuals to be part of the cultural mainstream of our society. For individuals whose native language is not English, English language captions have also been used to improve comprehension and fluency in this language. In addition, studies have shown that captions have helped children learn to read, and have improved literacy skills.

New Programming

All English language programming, which was first shown on or after January 1, 1998, must be captioned over an eight-year period, by 2006. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set benchmarks to meet this deadline. These benchmarks measure the amount of programming that must be captioned each calendar quarter (every 3 months) and are as follows:

2000: 450 hours of programming per channel per quarter
2002: 900 hours of programming per channel per quarter
2004: 1350 hours of programming per channel per quarter
2006: 100% of all programming, with some exemptions

Pre-Rule Programming

Programming first shown before January 1, 1998, is called pre-rule programming. Seventy-five percent of this programming must be captioned by 2008 under the following schedule:

2003: 30% of programming per channel per quarter
2008: 75% of programming per channel per quarter

Spanish Language Programming

Because captioning is fairly new to Spanish language program providers, the FCC has provided a longer time period for compliance by these programmers. All new Spanish language programming that was first shown after January 1, 1998, must be captioned by 2010. The following schedule applies to Spanish language programming shown after January 1, 1998:

2001: 450 hours of programming per channel per quarter
2004: 900 hours of programming per channel per quarter
2007: 1350 hours of programming per channel per quarter
2010: 100% of all programming, with some exemptions

For programming first shown before January 1, 1998, the following schedule applies:

2005: 30% of programming per channel per quarter
2012: 75% of programming per channel per quarter

Exemptions

There are some exemptions to the above captioning rules (for both English and Spanish language programming). For example, captioning is not required for:
* Programs which are shown between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. local time;
* Locally produced and distributed non-news programming with no repeat value (e.g., parades and school sports);
* Commercials that are no more than five minutes long;
* Instructional programming that is locally produced by public television stations for use in grades K-12 and post secondary schools (only covers programming narrowly distributed to individual educational institutions);
* Programs in languages other than English or Spanish;
* Programs shown on new networks for the first four years of the network's operations;
* Public service announcements under 10 minutes, unless they are federally-funded or produced; and
* Video programming providers with annual gross revenues under $3 million (although such programmers must pass through video programming that has already been captioned).

In addition, a video programming provider or distributor may ask the FCC for an exemption for specific programming if supplying captions for that programming would result in an undue burden for the provider or distributor.

Real-time vs. Electronic Newsroom Captioning Technique

Real-time captioning typically uses stenographers to convert the entire audio portion of a live program to captions. Electronic newsroom captioning technique (ENCT) creates captions from a news script computer or teleprompter used for live newscasts. Because only material that is scripted can be captioned with this technique, breaking news, sports and weather updates, and live field reports are typically not captioned when ENCT is used. As of January 1, 2000, FCC rules have not permitted the four major national broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC), television affiliates of these networks in the top 25 television markets, and national nonbroadcast networks (e.g., cable) serving at least 50% of the total number of households subscribing to video programming services, to count live news programming using ENCT toward their captioning requirements. Rather, these networks and affiliates must provide real-time captioning for live news programming in order for it to count toward meeting the FCC's captioning schedules. Other programming distributors and providers, however, are permitted to use ENCT for live programming to meet the captioning mandates.

Emergency Programming

In addition to captioning, the FCC has issued specific rules requiring television programming distributors to make televised emergency programming visually accessible to persons who are deaf and hard of hearing. Emergency information is information that is intended to further the protection of life, health, safety, or property. Examples include, but are not limited to, hazardous weather situations such as tornadoes, heavy snows, hurricanes and earthquakes, and dangerous community situations such as the discharge of toxic gases, widespread power failures, civil disorders, and school closings.

In order to provide access, information about emergency programming may be closed captioned or presented through an alternative method of visual presentation, including open captioning, crawls, or scrolls that appear on the screen. Where emergency information is provided by a means other than closed captioning, it must not block the program's closed captions. The information provided visually must include critical details regarding the emergency and how to respond. The FCC's rules on emergency programming are effective for all such programming, i.e., there is no phase-in period for implementation and there are no exemptions as there are for the captioning mandates.

Digital Captioning

The FCC has released new rules adopting technical standards for the display of closed captions on digital television (DTV) receivers. These rules, which go into effect on July 1, 2002, will require DTV receivers to enable consumers to control the print type, color, size, and background of captions.

Complaints

If you wish to file an informal complaint for failure to provide closed captioning or access to emergency programming, you may send the complaint to the FCC, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554. In addition to sending a letter, you may contact the FCC by other reasonable means, including: facsimile transmission 202-418-0232; phone 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; e-mail fccinfo@fcc.gov; the Internet (www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html). The complaint should include:
* The name of the video programming distributor against whom the complaint is alleged;
* The date and time of the alleged violation; and
* Details about the problem so that the distributor may correct or otherwise respond to the complaint.

You should include the name of the programmer (e.g., News Channel 13) in addition to the name of the distributor (e.g., ACME Cable of Maplewood). The FCC can provide informal dispute resolution to obtain compliance with the rules. However, the Media Bureau (MB) is responsible for handling formal actions needed to enforce the closed captioning rules. FCC rules require formal complaints for violations of the captioning rules to be sent first to the video program provider (the local television station, cable operator or satellite service) before they may be brought to the FCC.