Subtitles - why so intermittent or non-existent?

Ofcom have a set of complex rules about subtitling, which requires a certain percentage of programmes to be subtitled dependent on the age of the broadcaster’s licence and other things.

At the end of last year, Pick TV had a quota of 61.6% of all of its programmes to be subtitled. It actually subtitled 72.9% of all programmes. (Note – this doesn’t include adverts nor programme trails.)

If you’re getting intermittent subtitles – that is, you’re getting some pieces of dialogue but not all of it – it might be interesting to know how you’re watching Pick TV. There shouldn’t be any issue with watching via Freeview or Sky; I’d guess that Virgin Media stuff goes through additional technology which might interfere with the subtitling. How are you watching?

Does that help a little?

There are a number of reasons why subtitles can become ‘intermittent’. First off, on freeview, it may be a reception problem caused at your end by your aerial, or the decoder in your freeview TV or box. It also might be that where you live, Pick is on a UHF channel that is to the edge of your aerials receiving capabilities, as it was where I lived. I have changed my aerial. And, it might be a transmission problem from the broadcaster. Or it might be an issue with the original coding of the programme. If you are watching Pick on Sky, I can’t think of any reasons other thanat the transmission stage. If you have Freesat, there has been an issue with some brands of freesat receiver and the way that they decode the signals.