FCC Shouldn't Grant Lengthy Closed Captioning Exemptions, Consumer Groups Say
Consumer groups Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization, Deaf Seniors of America, National Association of the Deaf, and Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TDI) repeatedly asked the FCC to require religious programming to comply with closed captioning requirements.…
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The consumer groups filed several oppositions and one comment at the FCC in docket 06-181 Feb. 13. The groups said the commission should grant only limited, and not open-ended, exemptions because of “the evolution of technology, potential drops in the cost of captioning over time and the possibility that the financial status of a petitioner may change." The commission should deny the petitions by Faith at Work Ministry, Father Cedric Ministries (FCM), Lima Baptist Temple, Van Buren First Assembly of God and Victory Assembly Church of Beaumont because they failed to show that captioning their programming would be “economically burdensome,” TDI said. Programmers’ captioning costs can be covered by their excess net income, TDI said. FCM, petitioning to exempt its show Live With Passion! from closed captioning, didn’t provide the commission with a full record of its financial resources, TDI said. “The limited financial records FCM has provided show that captioning its broadcasts would not be economically burdensome,” it said. TDI called FCM’s solution of not captioning old episodes it rebroadcasts inadequate. Victory Assembly Church of Beaumont failed to provide the commission with financial documents, TDI said. The commission should dismiss Van Buren’s petition because it received a three-year waiver, TDI said. The groups don’t oppose Kellogg Street Production’s request for a temporary waiver through the end of 2015 because it demonstrated that captioning would be economically burdensome and it’s stopping production in 2015, TDI said. But if KSP resumes programming, it needs to comply with captioning rules, TDI said. Comments and oppositions on exemptions from closed captioning requirements are due March 16 see 1502120025).