This is a post from several months ago regarding closed captioning….Must be a registered Club Viodi member to read and comment on the rest of this post.
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Requirements to Close Caption local content could be another reason for independent telcos to set up a separate production subsidiary for their local content creation efforts.

I was on the OPASTCO Broadband Committee call last Wednesday when Howard
Shapiro, the attorney from the Washington D.C.-based law firm of Bennet &
Bennet, dropped a bombshell with regards to local content. He suggested
that as of January 1st, 2006, the FCC requires ALL PROGRAMMING, local or
not, to include closed captioning data.

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

This could be a huge time sink and could make it nearly impossible to
justify many forms of local content.

There may be a loophole, however. Item #12 of this document

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/exemptions_from_cc_rules.html

indicates an exemption for

(12) *Channels producing revenues of under $3,000,000*. No video programming
provider shall be required to expend any money to caption any *channel* of
video programming producing annual gross revenues of less than $3,000,000
during the previous calendar year other than the obligation to pass through
video programming already captioned when received pursuant to paragraph (c)
of this section.

In an exchange with Howard, he agreed that the above exemption, “might fit
as long as the $3,000,000 applies to the programming and not to the telco.”

I am curious as to what telcos are doing with regards to Closed Captioning
and whether anyone has had a legal opinion rendered on this topic?

Feel free to chime in……

P.S. There are some interesting programming ideas, which can be found by
looking at this list of groups (towards the bottom of the page, you will see
who has filed) that have lobbied for exemptions from this mandate:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/caption_exemptions.html
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