NEWSrelease

News from the National Captioning Institute, Inc.

Date: October 17, 2002

Contact: Jay Feinberg

703-917-7600 (V/TTY)

703-917-9853 (FAX)

jfeinberg@ncicap.org

NCI Receives Grant for Accessible Children’s Programming

Department of Education Funding Provides Three-Year Commitment To Children’s Captioned and Described Television

Washington, DC – The National Captioning Institute (NCI) has been awarded a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand the number of captioned and described children’s television programs.

Through this grant, almost 500 hours of children’s programming from five networks and producers will be closed captioned and described over a three-year period. Approximately 20 percent of the closed captioning and video description costs will be shared by the collaborating networks and producers demonstrating their strong commitment to making the world of television accessible to children and young adults who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or have low vision. The U.S. Department of Education grant will provide almost $1.5 million over three years (80% of total funding), while the private sector will provide over $365,000 (20% of project costs).

In an effort to meet the varied interests of young viewers, a diverse mix of children’s programming will be captioned and described over a three-year period from October 1, 2002 to September 30, 2005. The programming satisfies the Federal Communications Commission’s requirements for educational content. In addition, numerous studies have shown that adding captions and descriptions can improve reading, language and vocabulary skills.

Working in collaboration with NCI and the U.S. Department of Education are Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon, DIC Entertainment, Mike Young Productions and INSP.

“By captioning and describing these programs, these five networks and producers will expand the range of programming accessible to children and young adults nationwide who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or have low vision, stated Jack Gates, President and COO of NCI. “This will give them an equal playing field by enabling them to benefit from programs that are both educational and popular with their peers.”

Programming covered by the grant includes Sesame Workshop’s Sesame Street, the longest running captioned children’s program. Sesame Street will continue to be closed captioned and will include descriptions for the first time in 2003. Nickelodeon will make three television programs available for closed captioning and video description including Chalkzone, Danny Phantom and Fairly Odd Parents. From DIC Entertainment will come seven programs that will air on Fox including the animated Stargate Infinity, Inspector Gadget’s Field Trip and Archie’s Weird Mysteries. Mike Young Productions will introduce Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks on public television stations. Finally, INSP will offer Discovery Jones Expeditions and Bed Bug Bible Gang.

With offices in the Washington, DC metropolitan area; Burbank, CA; New York, NY; Dallas, TX; and London, England, the nonprofit National Captioning Institute is the global captioning leader, supplying the highest-quality closed captioning and related services for broadcast and cable television, home video and DVD, and government and corporate video programming.

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