NAB: TV Stations Dropping Weather Radar Over Lapsed Audible Crawl Waiver
Several large TV station groups stopped displaying weather radar maps because the FCC hasn’t granted an extension of the audible crawl waiver, NAB said in an ex parte filing posted Friday. The audible crawl rule requires that broadcasters provide an…
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aural description of visual, non-textual emergency information like moving radar maps, but the FCC has repeatedly and continuously waived it since 2015 because broadcasters maintained compliance isn’t technologically possible. "The technology for automated audio description of a dynamic image simply does not yet exist to permit broadcasters to effectively and efficiently abide by the non-textual component of the Audible Crawl Rule,” NAB said in a previous filing requesting an extension of the waiver The FCC is seeking comment on granting another extension (see 2411250059) but didn’t temporarily extend the waiver that expired Tuesday to include the comment period as it has in similar circumstances. “Because compliance with the existing rule remains impossible, absent a waiver, many broadcasters will stop providing radar maps and other visual, non-textual emergency information, due to concerns about potential Commission enforcement,” NAB said. In Friday’s filing, NAB asked that the FCC grant an expedited, brief and retroactive extension of the waiver while the agency considers its request for a longer extension. The comment period for the longer extension closes Jan. 9. The American Council for the Blind backs the expedited extension request, NAB said. “There is no doubt that the Commission’s inaction regarding a waiver extension will harm the public,” NAB said. “It will lead to diminished useful information about emergencies for all Americans, including deaf and hard of hearing individuals who may rely on the visual emergency information conveyed by radar maps and similar images.” As part of the current extension request, NAB has also asked that the FCC change the rule to specify "that compliance is fulfilled if a station provides textual crawls that provide emergency information duplicative or equivalent to the information conveyed by the visual image.”