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 Closed Captioning Requirements for Digital Television Receivers

 1.        Video Programming Distributors.  In the Order establishing closed captioning rules under section 713, we stated that, as final standards for digital television receivers did not yet exist, it would be difficult for entities preparing to broadcast or transmit to such receivers to format closed caption content for these uses.[1] We found it appropriate to define material prepared for such transmission as pre-rule until such time as the necessary decoder standard rules have been adopted by the Commission and are effective.[2]  The rule stated that pre-rule programming includes video programming first published or exhibited for display on television receivers equipped for display of digital transmissions or formatted for such transmission and exhibition.[3] In the NPRM in this proceeding, we stated that we believed that the one year transition period would provide sufficient time for programmers to incorporate closed captioning consistent with these standards into the digital programming they distribute.[4]

2.       We are not persuaded by the few commenters who argue that we should alter the rules adopted in the Closed Captioning Report and Order. As a result of those rules, programming prepared or formatted for display on television receivers equipped for display of digital transmissions, after the date on which such television receivers must, by Commission rule, be equipped with built-in decoder circuitry designed to display closed-captioned digital television transmission, falls under the established definition of "new programming" and is subject to the transition schedule for the captioning of new programming.  Programmers have been on notice of this requirement for more than one and one-half years, and they now have approximately two years to make necessary arrangements to comply with the new programming benchmarks.

3.       As a result, as of the compliance date for DTV receivers to have built-in decoder circuitry in accordance with the rules we are adopting here, programming prepared or formatted for display on television receivers equipped for display of digital transmissions will fall under the established definition of "new programming" and be subject to the transition schedule for the captioning of new programming.[5]  The captions for this programming must be able to be decoded by a closed caption decoder manufactured in accordance with the requirements adopted in this order.  Under the standard, captions created for use in analog (pursuant to EIA-608) and “upconverted” to be transmitted in EIA-708 can be decoded by a receiver in compliance with the rules we are adopting here. Upconverted captions are created by using the original 608 data as source material and employing a limited set of EIA-708 features to present the captions to an EIA-708 decoder.  These captions maintain the “look and feel” or traditional analog captions but are presented and decoded using the true digital construct. The upconversion occurs at the origination point of a video program’s distribution (in the production process by the captioner or programmer). [6] Therefore, programs that have been created and captioned for display on analog television receivers may be upconverted for digital delivery without the need to create an new caption script. A separate transition period is therefore not necessary and will result in more captioning during the transition (as opposed to those commenters seeking a separate transition for digital programming[7]).

4.       We expect, however, that EIA-708 captions will begin to be provided soon after the compliance date. Given the features that will be included in decoders as required by our rules, programmers and caption providers will have incentives to provide captioning that takes advantage of these features.  We believe our approach here provides flexibility during the ongoing digital television transition period.

5.       As noted above, there will be viewers who watch digital television programming on an analog television, by using a DTV converter.  We clarify, therefore, that in order for programming distributors to count captioned digital television programming toward their closed captioning requirements in 47 C.F.R. Section 79.1, they also must transmit captions that can be decoded by the decoder in that analog set.

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