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Foxtel exceeds closed caption requirements

Foxtel currently captions 94 of its subscription TV channels.

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Foxtel today announced that it has exceeded minimum requirements for Closed Captioning across its subscription TV channels.

Foxtel currently captions 94 of its subscription TV channels. Thirty channels  feature 90% of content captioned and 5 channels at 100%.

The news comes during Hearing Awareness Week, August 23 – 29.

Bruce Meagher, Group Director of Corporate Affairs, Foxtel, said, “Hearing loss affects 1 in 5 Australians and, by 2050, it is projected to rise to 1 in 4. Foxtel’s deaf and hard of hearing subscribers rely on Closed Captions to fully enjoy Foxtel’s high quality and diverse Australian and international content. Foxtel’s commitment to Closed Captioning across a broad range of channels available on its broadcast platform promotes inclusion and accessibility for as many Australians as possible and we’re proud to announce that our most recent efforts have more than exceeded not only legislative requirements, but the significant bar we set for ourselves.”

Alex Varley, CEO, Media Access Australia, added, “It is really great to see Foxtel delivering above the captioning requirements and offering a serious option for caption users. I also applaud the new presentation on the website showing how much captioning is available on each channel. Grouping this information into different packages and genres is a transparent way to allow people to make easy, informed choices.”

Foxtel launched its Closed Captioning Service in October 2004 which coincided with its migration to digital services. Its commitment to captioning its service over and above legislative requirements has been recognised by the 2014 Deafness Forum of Australia Captioning Awards where Foxtel won the TV Captioning Award for its Foxtel Anytime (broadcast pay-per-view movies) service.

foxtel.com.au/got/support/tv/how-to-use/foxtel-remote/closed-caption-channels.html

13 Responses

      1. The minimum standard for FTA is higher though because it they get subsidised access to public spectrum they are rightly subjected to more public service requirements in exchange.

        Foxtel do more that required because they are selling a service including to those who are deaf or hearing impaired. With digital technology you’d expect that every drama, comedy and movie would be distributed with CC and they are part of the FTA and Pay TV format specifications.

    2. Absolutely. Closed Captions are incredibly important. TV and movies are vital to the deaf and hearing impaired community, as is the internet. Networks must maintain a lifeline for these viewers, so reporting adheres to that. Your post demonstrates too many of us take some things for granted.

      1. Obviously this poster is not yet sufficiently mature to experience hearing loss, which is becoming an epidemic thanks to abuse of earbuds and headphones. Medical reports show a rapid year-on-year increase.
        More than 11,000 Australian children under the age of 17 years are fitted with hearing aids or a cochlear implant.
        One in eight people (13%) aged 12 years or older has hearing loss in both ears, based on standard hearing examinations. About 2% of adults aged 45 to 54 have disabling hearing loss. The rate increases to 8.5% for adults aged 55 to 64, to nearly 25% of those aged 65 to 74 and 50% of people aged 75 and older have disabling hearing loss.
        Yes, it is serious, and it is worth a press release and a blog article. Thanks David.
        PS – I still don’t understand why ABC24 stops captioning at 11pm AEST when it’s only 9pm in WA.

        1. True. Its useful on 1 show where there is a minor character that speaks very low. Recently discovered a useful feature on fetch tv (and there aren’t many) whereby when you record a show it also records text. I’ve only used that feature on 1 show on a main channel as use text sparingly. I’m not sure how broad the text feature on fetch is or if its better than watching free to air without fetch. Maybe someone else might know that answer. They do have a specific button on the remote for text.

    3. You certainly thought it was worth commenting on.

      It’s an important issue for people who are hearing-impaired, especially with the commercial FTA networks doing so poorly with captioning content on their multichannels. Nothing wrong with Foxtel telling people that they’re doing a much better job.

      Definitely important enough for a blog specifically about Australian TV to run.

      1. Yep i agree it’s extremely important 100% of shows should be closed captioned i have mild hearing loss I’m very lucky because my hearing loss is fixed by hearing aids and i find closed captions very useful to know exactly what is being said

  2. With the technology available today, I think every program on any network should be captioned around the clock.

    Considering the FTA channels are required to caption all news programs, the fact that Sky News only captions for an hour a day (betwen 4-5pm AEST) is a joke.

  3. I don’t (can’t) watch the ” secondary” FTA channels as they are rarely CCd. Even shows and movies that have appeared CCd on a main channel are not CCd when rebroadcast on another channel. Foxtel can manage CCs on 94 channels, but the FTAs can’t manage it on 3 each?! Pathetic.

    1. Yes SBS2 has been very disappointing in this regard. As a public broadcaster, I expect better of them. Shows I watch on Eleven are rarely CCed, but Go has been surprisingly good with the rare show I watch on there.

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