Media Bureau Grants TBS Audio Description Waiver
The FCC Media Bureau granted WarnerMedia’s request for a partial waiver of the FCC’s audio description requirements for its network TBS, said an order Wednesday. TBS asked for a waiver of the audio description rule’s restrictions on repeat content --…
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normally, a given episode can count toward an MVPD’s total amount of described content only twice on a given channel. As one of the top five “nonbroadcast networks,” TBS is required to provide 87.5 hours of described content per quarter. Due to the way TBS programming is structured, “the repeat rule results in ‘only a small fraction of the hours of [audio] described programming that TBS provides each calendar quarter’ counting towards the audio description requirement,” the order said. The bureau granted the waiver because it was unopposed, supported by consumer advocates and because WarnerMedia “made a commitment to provide a substantial amount of audio description on TBS, and other commonly owned networks, that exceeds the current quarterly requirement,” the order said. The waiver is conditioned on TBS carrying at least 1,000 hours of audio-described programming and more than 1,400 hours of audio-described programming on average during a quarter, without restricting repeats, the order said. WarnerMedia also promised to “provide audio description for 100 percent of newly produced, non-live programming aired during certain core hours on TBS, TNT, and TruTV,” the order said. The waiver expires June 30, 2024.