And the Captioning Struggle Continues...

The November, 1997 issue of The NAD Broadcaster, described the NAD request (submitted 10/15/97) to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to strengthen the new closed captioning rules. When we submitted our petition, several networks also submitted their own petitions to FCC, requesting a weakening of the captioning rules. In November 1997, we responded to these industry petitions. This article discusses some of the networks' requests, and our responses to each of those requests.

Instructional Programming

The Association of America's Public Television Stations (APTS) requested the FCC to exempt all instructional programming offered by public television stations to elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools, from the captioning requirements. Specifically, APTS expressed concerns about the costs associated with captions, given their limited budgets.

The NAD argued that an exemption for instructional programming would be against our nation's policy to ensure educational access for all children and adults with disabilities. For the same reasons, we opposed a request by the Encore Media Group to exempt "WAM!," its new commercial-free educational and entertainment network, from the captioning mandates.

New Network Exemption

The final FCC rules on closed captioning establish an eight-year transition schedule during which networks must make their new programming accessible through captions. Similarly, networks have 10 years to caption older programming.

The final rules, however, exempt new networks from the captioning requirements for the first four years of their existence. The FCC's justification for this exemption was that these networks need some time to gain a strong financial ground before being saddled with captioning costs.

Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc. (SHHH) submitted a petition requesting the FCC to narrow its new network exemption, and to limit the exemption only to networks that are truly unable to afford the costs of captioning (rather than create an across-the-board exemption). The NAD's papers filed in November supported the SHHH position. We urged that networks be required to incorporate the costs of providing access as an ordinary business expense right from the start, rather than being given a free ride for their first four years.

Home Shopping & Infomercials

Networks carrying home shopping programming petitioned the FCC for an exemption for all home shopping and infomercials (program-length commercials). They argued that the text already contained on such programming provides viewers with enough information to understand the programming and that the dialogue provided on such shows is "of marginal relevance to the viewer."

The NAD, in response, pointed out that the visual portion, alone, of home shopping programs can not provide viewers with enough information to make judgments about the products and services advertised. We used as an example a recent advertisement for a household cleanser, in which the spoken words included a lot of information about the product, such as types of surfaces and stains suitable for the cleanser's use, as well as its safety around children and pets. None of this information was available in the text, but that all of it was crucial to deciding to buy the product.

Older Programming

The Encore Media Group requested an exemption for all programming first exhibited prior to 1970. We opposed this exemption as being inconsistent with Congress' intent in the Telecommuni- cations Act of 1996. We also noted that this exclusion would result in a "severe cultural loss" for television viewers.

Political Candidates Debates

The Association of Local Television Stations requested the FCC to exempt candidates' debates from the captioning requirements. We opposed this request and noted that the information shared during these debates is vital to making electoral choices, and should not selectively be denied to viewers who need captions. We also urged that public funds not be used to finance political debates that are not captioned.

Interactive Programming

The Game Show Network urged the FCC to grant an exemption for interactive game shows, where captioning would interfere with the program's viewability. We responded that both graphics and captions can be rearranged to the satisfaction of producers and viewers, and that this should not be a permissible justification for eliminating captions from an entire category of programming.

The FCC will hopefully rule on our Request for Reconsideration and these other requests in the coming months. Because four out of five of the FCC's Commissioners are newly appointed, the present FCC Commission is very different than the one that created the original rules. We will keep you posted about any action on this issue that comes from the Commission.