In 2010 the FCC launched an investigation into the cable TV provider Comcast, following complaints that the company’s set-top boxes were not passing through closed captions. This investigation has now been terminated, with Comcast agreeing to take steps to rectify the problems, and to make a voluntary contribution of US$500,000 to the United States Treasury.
Under the FCC’s closed caption regulations, all video programming distributors must ensure that any closed captioning present on programs they distribute must be retained so that it can be received in households. Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast will review its procedures for testing set-top boxes and revise them where necessary to ensure that they pass through captions correctly. It will also notify the FCC within 30 days if problems with any particular model of set-top box are identified.
Comcast must send reports to the FCC in January 2012 and January 2013 to show that it is complying with the agreement.
Top of page