Reminder: Next IP Captioning Benchmark Hits in March
Less than two months from now—on March 30, 2013—the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Internet Protocol (IP) closed captioning rules will require all live and near-live programming subject to the rules and shown on television with captions to be captioned when delivered via IP. The March 30 date is the second benchmark under the IP captioning rules, following the September 30, 2012 deadline for IP captioning of prerecorded programming not edited for Internet distribution.
The FCC’s definition of "live" or "near-live" captures all programming performed simultaneously or recorded within 24 hours of its first transmission to a video programming distributor, including newscasts and sporting events subject to the closed captioning rules. Provided they do not make up "substantially all" of a full-length program in the aggregate, online video clips are exempt from the IP captioning rules.
