The FCC must not underestimate the difficulty of...

The FCC must not underestimate the difficulty of captioning time-sensitive online video clips when setting an implementation deadline for a draft order on the matter, NAB officials told staff from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office in a June 30 meeting, said an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/TOaZ0f) posted in docket 11-154. The draft order is set for a vote at the commission’s meeting Friday (CD June 18 p10). To allow broadcasters to develop the processes to track and replace time-sensitive clips, “the obligation should” begin “no earlier than mid-2017,” NAB said. It also takes at least 12 hours for the process of re-encoding the clips with captions to be completed, NAB said. “The process requires re-formatting the video clip for all potential video players used via consumers on the Internet.” The commission also shouldn’t immediately apply its captioning quality standards to such clips, NAB said. “The variety of formats for online video clips and the fact that there are inherent problems involved with synchronicity in online video clips due to the Internet’s architecture means those standards may not always be met."