There are 10 million people in the UK, and more than 360 million people worldwide who are deaf or hard of hearing. A recent report issued by Charity Action on Hearing Loss (formerly RNID) into on-demand subtitling – including catch-up TV and online film services – found that more than two thirds of viewers who pay for subscriptions would switch their TV service providers if more on-demand content with subtitles was available elsewhere. The report, ‘Progress on pause: spelling out the case for subtitles on on-demand services’, follows the charity’s Subtitle It! campaign carried out in the summer of 2015 throughout the UK.
Indeed, subtitles come at a cost for the content provider, but in an increasingly crowded on-demand and online video marketplace, offering access services can be a huge competitive advantage that allows a wider audience to consume your content. Research shows that subtitles are very much in demand by customers — the BBC revealed that every single day more than 500,000 programs are viewed on iPlayer with the subtitles switched on. In the report, Action on Hearing Loss also found that more than half of consumers with hearing loss, not currently paying for any on-demand subscription service, would consider signing up if they knew the service had subtitles. More than two thirds (69%) of those who pay for subscriptions agreed that they would switch TV service providers if they knew they could have access to more on-demand content with subtitles.
The way TV and video is consumed has drastically changed over the past decade, moving away from traditional linear TV to TV anywhere, any time and on any device. Almost all broadcasters now offer an on-demand and catch-up service, and just this year alone has seen major moves by networks such as Discovery Communications into the ever growing online streaming market.
In the Communications Marketplace Report issued by Ofcom, the number of UK households subscribing to the top subscription video-on-demand services increased from 4.2 million to six million in the 12 months to March 2015. The 2003 Communications Act provides a legal framework for the provision of subtitles on linear television. There is no such legal requirement for subtitles for on-demand content in the UK. This means that many services don’t offer subtitles, or provide very few. The regulator for on-demand services, ATVOD, found 80% of the UK on-demand services that it regulates have no subtitles.
The survey carried out by Charity Action on Hearing found that more than 89% of people with hearing loss rely on subtitles to watch TV at least some of the time. Subtitles offer more than a technical solution to a practical problem; they connect people, too — to their friends, to their family, and to the world of film and TV. Without subtitles, trying to enjoy a simple night in with family or friends to watch the latest box set or film release can be isolating. And having a conversation about the latest show that everyone else is talking about becomes impossible.
People who are deaf or hard of hearing have the equal right to fully consume and enjoy their entertainment of choice; be it a TV programme, a catch-up service, a YouTube video or the latest movie at the cinema. We implore content owners and distributors the world over to consider adding access services to their content, and finally put a stop to the digital exclusion that the deaf and hard of hearing people are currently subject to.
If you would like to find out more about Action on Hearing Loss and the Subtitle It! Campaign, please contact:
Gorki Duhra
Senior PR Officer, Action on Hearing Loss
T: +44 (0)20 7296 8057
Email: Gorki.Duhra@hearingloss.org.uk
