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English Closed Captions on Univision Programming

There are some programs on Univision where a graphic is displayed indicating that English closed captions are available on CC3. However, when I access CC3 the captions that appear on the screen are in Spanish.

Are there any procedures I could follow which would convert the CC3 captions from Spanish to English? I checked CC1 through CC6 individually and they all return closed captions in Spanish only. Is it possible that the signal Univision is providing to Verizon does not include the English closed captions (even though these selected Univision programs indicate that English is available)?

The box hooked up to my TV is the Cisco CHS 435HDC.

Thank you very much for your help!

Comments

tlb7

Can you tell me which channels and which programs--day and time would be helpful also--and I'll check for you because I have a Cisco stb (a Cisco CHS 335HDC) also and use closed captions all the time. I'm in VA (Washington, DC metro area), where are you?

Conventionally, CC2 is designated for Spanish language captions--although not all programs have them--so CC1, CC3, CC4, CC5 and CC6 should, theoretically at least and when using a Cisco stb, display the captions in English if the program has them. There is no procedure that will convert captions from Spanish to English--at least so far as I know.

The interesting thing is if you had a Motorola stb, you'd be out of luck completely because none of the Verizon motorola stb's display closed captions when using closed caption options CC3-CC6. With the motorola stb's, only closed caption option CC1 displays English language captions and CC2 will display Spanish language captions if offered by the program. Additionally, the display quality of the CC1 captions on the motorola is awful--barely legible.

At any rate, if you let me know what to check then you could contact Univision about it armed with a bit of testing info to give them--Verizon just transmits the program so it's likely an issue on the Univision side. Also, one other check you could make is to see if the program displays who it is that is doing the captioning and you might contact the captioning company also--the captioner display is usually at the beginning and the end of the progam although sometimes they don't display that info which is frustrating because often touching base with the captioning company can resolve a problem quickly.

PA917

Thank you very much for this information. It is very helpful. Here are the additional details you requested:

1. I am located in the Philadelphia, PA metro area

2. Channel: Univision HD (channel no. 514 on my system)

3. Example Program A: Lo Que la Vida Me Robo (airs Monday - Friday from 9:00PM to 10:00PM)

4. Example Program B: Mentir Para Vivir (airs Monday - Friday from 10:00PM to 11:00PM)

The programs listed in #3 and #4 above will not air on 11/21 as Univision is broadcasting the Latin Grammy Awards. However, both programs return on 11/22.

Thanks again for your assistance!

tlb7

>>pa917: Thank you very much for this information. It is very helpful. Here are the additional details you requested:

You're welcome and thanks for the info on channel and programs...

514 is the Univision channel here in VA also. I checked about 3pm and found "La Mujer del Vendaval" just starting and I saw the same notice that English closed captions would display via closed caption option CC3 but, as you discovered they don't.

Spanish language captions display when choosing closed caption options CC1, CC3-CC6. Interestingly enough, no closed captions display when CC2 is chosen (remember that CC2 conventionally displays Spanish language closed captions when the program has them for English language programming) and I'm wondering if, for Spanish language broadcasters, if CC2 is supposed to display English language closed captions if the program has them.

Do you remember if CC2 display closed captions--English or Spanish--for the programs you were trying to watch?

I did not see a notice of the closed captioning company at the start of the program but I'm going to check back just before 4pm when the program ends to see if one is listed and will post back.

I suspect I would find the same situation for the 2 evening programs you tried to watch but I'll check them out on Friday.

Ok...just finished watching "La Mujer del Vendaval" and they didn't display any info on who the captioning company was. The next program began ("El Gordo y La Flaca") and again the "CC3 for English captions" message displayed but CC1, CC3-CC6 display Spanish language captions and no caption display when CC2 is chosen--by the way, the "CC3 for English captions" message displayed after every ad during "La Mujer del Vendaval".

I think you need to contact Univision about this. Please feel free to say that a Verizon FiOS user in Reston, VA found the same issues you are describing so it's not restricted to the Philly area. It would be interesting to see if someone in the midwest or on the west coast finds the same thing.

I'll post back what I find on Friday evening but I'm 99.999% positive that I'll find the same situation as I have this afternoon.

PA917

OK thanks!

I am getting Spanish closed captions only on each of the six CC options (including CC2).

I left a message for the communications director at Univision's Philadelphia affiliate requesting assistance. I'll mention that Verizon FiOS users in VA have the same issues and post any relevant feedback I receive ASAP.

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