Closed Captioning Blog

Just wanted to send out a reminder to everyone producing Spanish captioning programming.  The FCC mandate requires that 100% of all Spanish captioning programming be closed captioned in Spanish for the deaf and hard of hearing.  You can find the complete mandate here:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/closedcaption.html:

Here are the specifics from the FCC’s website:

Spanish Language Programming

• Because captioning is fairly new to Spanish language program providers, the FCC allows them a longer time to provide captioned programming. All Spanish language programming that was first shown after January 1, 1998, must be captioned by 2010 with some exemptions. The following schedule applies to Spanish language “new” and non-exempt programming, or programming shown after January 1, 1998:
• January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2006: 900 hours of programming per channel per quarter or all of the new, non-exempt Spanish language programming on that channel, whichever is less.
• January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2009: 1350 hours of programming per channel per quarter or all of the new, non-exempt Spanish language programming on that channel, whichever is less.
• January 1, 2010, and thereafter: 100 percent of all programming, with some exceptions.
• For Spanish language “Pre-Rule Programming” (first shown before January 1, 1998) that is not exempt from the closed captioning rules, the following schedule applies:
• January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2011: 30 percent of programming per channel per quarter.
• January 1, 2012, and thereafter: 75 percent of programming per channel per quarter.

There are many ways you can get your Spanish programming captioned.  There are tape and tapeless options to fit your budget.  Feel free to give Aberdeen a call (800-688-6621) or an e-mail (info@abercap.com) to request a price quote for your project or to learn about your different workflow options.  You can request a price quote here: rate request. For more information on our Spanish captioning department visit: Spanish Captioning.