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Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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from the FCC.gov website
Quote:
Background
Closed captioning is an assistive technology designed to provide access to television for persons with hearing disabilities. Through captioning, the audio portion of programming is displayed as text superimposed over the video. In 1990, Congress first required television receivers to contain circuitry designed to decode and display closed captioning. As of July 1993, the Commission has required that all analog television sets with screens 13 inches or larger sold in the United States contain built-in decoder circuitry that allows viewers to display closed captions. Beginning July 1, 2002, the Commission also required that digital television (DTV) receivers include closed caption display capability.
As part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress instructed the Commission to require video program distributors (cable operators, broadcasters, satellite distributors and other multi- channel video programming distributors) to phase in closed captioning of their television programs. In 1997, the FCC implemented rules to provide a transition schedule for video program distributors to follow in providing more captioned programming. The rules require that distributors provide an increasing amount of captioned programming according to a set schedule.
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. Viewers may select to watch closed captions through their remote controls or on-screen displays. The FCC does not require captioning of home videos or video games.
New Programming
All English language programming prepared or formatted for display on analog television and first shown on or after January 1, 1998, as well as programming prepared or formatted for display on digital television that was first published or exhibited after July 1, 2002 ("digital programming"), is considered "New Programming," and must be captioned according to benchmarks set by the FCC. The following benchmarks establish how much "New Programming" must be captioned each calendar quarter:
January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2001: 450 hours of programming per channel per quarter
January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2003: 900 hours of programming per channel per quarter
January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2005: 1350 hours of programming per channel per quarter
January 1, 2006 and thereafter: 100% of all programming, with some exemptions
Pre-Rule Programming
Analog programming first shown before January 1, 1998 and digital programming first shown before July 1, 2002, is called "Pre-Rule Programming." Pre-Rule Programming must be captioned as follows:
January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2007: 30% of programming per channel per quarter
January 1, 2008 and thereafter: 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 "New Programming" shown after January 1, 1998:
January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2003: 450 hours of programming per channel per quarter
January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2006: 900 hours of programming per channel per quarter
January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009: 1350 hours of programming per channel per quarter
January 1, 2010 and thereafter: 100% of all programming, with some exemptions
For Spanish language "Pre-Rule Programming" first shown before January 1, 1998, the following schedule applies:
January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2011: 30% of programming per channel per quarter
January 1, 2012 and thereafter: 75% of programming per channel per quarter
Exemptions
There are some exemptions to the above captioning requirements (for both English and Spanish language programming). Examples include but are not limited to the following:
most 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 and promotional announcements that are shorter than 10 minutes, unless they are federally-funded or produced; and
programming provided by program 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 file with the FCC a petition for an exemption for specific programming if supplying captions for that programming would result in an undue burden for the provider or distributor.
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Last edited by Cynthetiq; 02-12-2004 at 02:04 PM..
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