Broadcasters are now being warned. The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau has put out the word that it will increase enforcement of its closed-captioning rules.
Karen Peltz Strauss, deputy chief of the FCC’s consumer and governmental affairs bureau, said that the bureau has been watching several closed-captioning complaints that have been coming in since the DTV switch in June. “A lot of problems have been created by the transition,” she said.
The FCC recently put out a reminder of its requirement to file contact information for closed-captioning complaints with the commission, she noted. Yet, despite a March 22 deadline for submitting that contact information, “many stations” have still not submitted it.
A second notice is due soon, advising consumers of how to access that information so they can contact the stations directly.
Since the FCC changed its rules to allow complaints to be filed directly to the FCC, Strauss said the commission plans to step up enforcement in that area.
