FCC to Hold Public Forum on ENT Captioning of Live TV Programming Tomorrow, May 10

By David Oxenford on May 9, 2019

Posted in Emergency Communications, General FCC, Programming Regulations, Public Interest Obligations/Localism, Television

The FCC tomorrow will hold a public forum on Electronic Newsroom Technique (ENT) of captioning live TV programming tomorrow from 1 PM to 4:45 PM Eastern Time (see the agenda here). The forum will be available for viewing online (go to the FCC webpage here for information about connecting). This forum may provide a good refresher for stations still using ENT to caption live programming to make sure that they are providing the quality captioning that the FCC expects as outlined in its orders on captioning quality that went into effect on June 30, 2014.

We wrote about some of the goals of the captioning quality proceeding here. The FCC itself has released a good compliance guide, which reminds broadcasters that TV stations that are not Top 25 market affiliates of the Top 4 TV networks can still rely on ENT, but they must be sure that the captions accurately convey what is being said by those speaking during on-air live or near live programing. Specifically, the compliance guide notes these FCC requirements to insure that the ENT captions reflect what is being said on the air:

In-studio produced news, sports, weather, and entertainment programming will be scripted.
For weather interstitials where there may be multiple segments within a news program, weather information explaining the visual information on the screen and conveying forecast information will be scripted, although the scripts may not precisely track the words used on air.
Pre-produced programming shall be scripted (to the extent technically feasible).
If live interviews , live on-the scene, or breaking news segments are not scripted, stations will supplement them with crawls, textual information, or other means (to the extent technically feasible).
The station will provide training to all news staff on scripting for improving ENT.
The station will appoint an “ENT Coordinator” accountable for compliance.

Stations still relying on ENT to meet their captioning responsibilities should review tomorrow’s discussion either live or when it is archived to assure that they are meeting all their responsibilities in following these FCC rules.

David OxenfordPartner

David Oxenford represents broadcasting and digital media companies in connection with regulatory, transactional and intellectual property issues. He has represented broadcasters and webcasters before the Federal Communications Commission, the Copyright Royalty Board, courts and other government agencies for over 30 years.

David O'ConnorPartner

David has coordinated the purchase and sale of numerous radio and television stations, and has helped telecommunications companies, industry associations, broadcasters, educational institutions and others with FCC compliance matters and advocacy in regulatory proceedings, such as those related to new technologies, media ownership, and spectrum allocations. David also advises voice and data providers on issues related to Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) for the deaf and hard of hearing, including Internet-based Video Relay Services (VRS) and IP Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS), and otherwise helps clients with all of their FCC-related needs.

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FCC to Hold Public Forum on ENT Captioning of Live TV Programming Tomorrow, May 10

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