Closed Captioning Obligations Set To Increase On Jan. 1, 2006

As 2005 winds down, an important milestone in the FCC’s closed captioning transition schedule is rapidly approaching. Effective Jan. 1, 2006, 100 percent of all “new” programming (i.e., programming produced after Jan. 1, 1998) distributed by video programming distributors (which includes broadcast stations, cable operators and DBS providers) will be required to be captioned. Although the rules are not directly applicable to program networks, networks typically are made responsible for captioning through their affiliation agreements and/or their business relationships with program distributors.

The move to a full captioning requirement marks a significant increase over the current requirement of 1,350 hours for each calendar quarter. Moreover, as a practical matter, the new requirement will make it much easier for consumers and advocacy groups to measure compliance with the FCC’s captioning rules and file complaints with the Commission because all new programming will be required to be captioned unless the programming, or the provider, is exempt.

The FCC’s exemptions for certain classes of programming remain in place. Most notably, programming distributed between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. is not required to be captioned. In addition, advertisements of five minutes’ duration or less are exempt, and only 30 percent of a network’s “pre-rule” programming (i.e., programming produced before Jan. 1, 1998) is required to be captioned. Spanish-language programming is subject to a longer phase-in schedule for captioning (now 900 hours each quarter for new programming), and programming in languages other than English or Spanish is exempt.

Also, certain program networks and broadcast stations remain fully or partially exempt from a captioning obligation. For instance, networks are fully exempt for four years after their launch date. And any network or broadcast station that had less than $3 million in gross revenue in the previous calendar year is exempt. Moreover, no network or broadcast station is required to spend more than 2 percent of its gross revenue in the prior calendar year on captioning expenses.

The FCC presently is conducting a rulemaking proceeding in which it is considering whether it should strengthen its current rules pertaining to closed captioning. As part of this proceeding, certain advocacy groups for persons with hearing disabilities have asserted that there is “widespread” noncompliance with the FCC’s captioning rules. We anticipate that these groups will closely monitor the industry’s compliance with the captioning rules in 2006.

Please contact us if you have any questions about compliance with the new closed captioning requirement or the rulemaking proceeding.