PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 445 12th STREET, S.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 DA 02-1507 News media information 202/418-0500 Fax-on-Demand 202/418-2830 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov ftp.fcc.gov MEDIA BUREAU ACTION June 27,2002 REQUEST FOR EXEMPTION FROM COMMISSION'S CLOSED CAPTIONING RULES CSR 5916 Pursuant to Section 79.1 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. Sec. 79.1, America's Collectible Network, Inc. ("ACN") filed a petition for exemption from the closed captioning requirements for its electronic retail programming. Petitioner claims that compliance would impose an undue burden, as defined in Section 79.1(f) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. Sec. 79.1(f). Comments and oppositions are due within 30 days from the date of this public notice. Petitioner's reply is due 20 days thereafter. Please place the case identifier, CSR 5916, on all filings. The petition is available for public inspection in the Commission's Reference Information Center: 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 202-418-7092 Media Contact: Margo Domon Davenport at (202) 418-7200. Media Bureau Contact: Sonia Greenaway-Mickle or Steve Garner at (202) 418-7200. TTY: (202) 418-7172. --FCC-- Joseph E. Dunne III Attorney At Law P.O. Box 9203 Durango, CO 81302-9203 Telephone: (970) 385-7312 E-Mail: Lawman@animas.net Fax: (970) 385-7343 May 9, 2002 VIA OVERNIGHT EXPRESS William F. Caton Acting Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S. W., Room TW-B204F Washington, D.C. 20554 ATTN: Media Bureau RE: Request For Exemption From Closed Captioning Requirements Submitted by America's Collectible Network, Inc. Dear Mr. Caton: Transmitted herewith on behalf of America's Collectible Network, Inc.("ACN") is an original and two copies of its Petition for Exemption From Closed Captioning Requirements submitted pursuant to section 79.1 (f) of the Commission's Rules and Regulations. ACN respectfully requests that the enclosed copy of this petition, marked "COPY," be stamped as received and returned to the undersigned in the enclosed stamped self-addressed envelope. Should any questions arise concerning this matter, kindly contact the undersigned directly. Respectfully Submitted, AMERICA'S COLLECTIBLE NETWORK, INC. By: Joseph E. Dunne III Its Attorney JED:A83 Enclosure xc: Charles W. Wagner III, Esq. In Re Request For Exemption From Section 79.1 of the Commission's Rules and Regulations To: The Media Bureau PETITION FOR EXEMPTION FROM CLOSED CAPTIONING REQUIREMENTS America's Collectible Network, Inc. ("ACN"), a video programming provider within the meaning of section 79.1(a)(3) of the Commission's Rules and Regulations, 47 C.F.R. Sec. 79.l(a)(3), by its undersigned attorney and pursuant to section 79.1(f) of the Commission's Rules and Regulations hereby submits this Petition for Exemption From Closed Captioning Requirements on the basis of undue burden ("Petition"). In support of its Petition, ACN shows and states as follows. I. The Petitioner*1 1. ACN is a "home shopping network" like program service, with its offices located in Knoxville, Tennessee. In its programming ACN typically offers viewers products for sale for a short period of time. In the general format an item is offered for sale, a host presents and discusses the attributes of a product while demonstrating or displaying it. Concurrently on screen with the host's presentation is a visual text providing information regarding the product, such as the item's reference number, product name, price, information on the availability of the product, and instructions on how to place the order. While the commentary provided by the host is important to the sales presentation, the essential information concerning each item for sale is graphically presented on the viewer's screen. Viewers then phone-in orders for the product. ACN already receives orders for its products from the hearing impaired who have the necessary equipment to communicate with ACN's sales staff. While no statistics are kept on orders from the hearing impaired they are believed to be relatively rare. Essentially all ACN programming is live, i.e., essentially all of its programming is broadcast simultaneously with the program's production. 2. ACN began operation in 1993, when its programming was first carried on a C- Band satellite. When it began operation, and for some time thereafter, its programming was available only during limited hours and only to owners of C- Band satellite receivers. In December, 1996 ACN expanded its programming to be carried on a 24 hour, seven day a week schedule. In December, 1997, ACN began efforts for its programming to be carried on full power and low power television stations. This was phased in gradually. As of March 1, 2002 ACN programming is distributed via: C-Band satellite to owners of C-Band satellite receivers; small dish satellite receiver owners served by DirectTV , TRIO and Echostar/Dish Network; 49 cable systems; 33 full power television stations; 22 low power television stations, one national cable satellite network, TRIO, and one regional network, the Sunshine Network. While ACN programming is available 24 hours a day it is not necessarily carried 24 hours a day on its cable and broadcast affiliates. In fact, on 5 of the 49 cable systems on which ACN programming is viewed such programming is viewed only during overnight hours, defined as from 12:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Likewise, on 11 of 33 full power broadcast affiliates, or 33 percent, ACN programming is viewed only during overnight hours. On many of its cable and broadcast affiliates, such as those in Boston, Kansas City, Houston, Little Rock, and, Washington D.C., all or substantially all of the hours during which ACN programming is available are exempt from the closed captioning requirements.*2 See 47 C.F.R. Sec. 79.1(d)(5). As noted above, these affiliates include those in the four of the top ten largest television markets. Moreover, the full power affiliates which carry ACN programming only during overnight hours, include its affiliates in the largest television markets, including: Boston; ; Washington, D.C.; and, Houston. 41 affiliates, or 38 percent, carry all of their "ACN hours" during the exempt time. Thus a significant number of these affiliates, some in the largest television markets, provide ACN programming only during hours when the closed captioning requirements do not apply. 3. Financial information concerning ACN is included in Exhibit 1. This financial information shows that ACN's after tax profit for each of the following four years: 1998, $102,970; 1999, $75,041; 2000, $287,136; and, 2001, $1,546,307. ACN's net revenue for each year of its operation are as follows: 1994, $4,897,553; 1995, $$6,819,170; 1996, $3,924,021; 1997, $5,252,145; 1998, $10,738,830; 1999, $22,378,343; 2000, $45,727,871; and, 2001, $87,554,946. II. The Factors Under Which Petitioner's Exemption Claim Must Be Considered 4. Section 713 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, ... provides the Commission with authority to grant a petition for exemption from the closed captioning requirements upon a showing that the requirements would result in an "undue burden" for the program provider or owner. Congress defined "undue burden" to mean significant difficulty or expense. When determining if the closed captioning requirements will prove an undue burden, the statute requires the Commission to consider the following factors: (1) the nature and cost of the closed captions for the program; (2) the impact on the operation of the provider or program owner; (3) the financial resources of the provider or program owner; and, (4) the type of operation of the provider or program owner. Outland Sports. Inc., 16 FCC Rcd 13605, 24 CR 158, Sec. 3 (Cable Services Bureau, 2001). Accordingly, ACN will discuss its case for an exemption under each of the numbered factors below. A. The Nature and Costs of the Closed Captioning 5. Because of the nature of its programming, which is essentially all "live," all closed captioning of ACN's programming must be live, or real-time. As the Commission is well aware, real-time closed captioning vastly increases the costs of closed captioning to the program provider or owner, and limits the number of vendors which might provide such services. The FCC has repeatedly recognized that the costs of real-time closed captioning remain high, Closed Captioning and Video Description of Video Programming, Order on Reconsideration, 13 FCC Rcd 19973, 13 CR 887, par 37 (1998) and that real-time captioning may impose an economic burden, especially on smaller entities whose resources are likely to be limited, Closed Captioning and Video Description of Video Programming, Clarification Order, 16 FCC Rcd 5067, 23 CR 809, 813 (2001). 6. ACN has obtained quotes from several providers of real-time captioning services.*3 Two quotes, one in the amount of $110 per hour for CaptionMax and $115 per hour for Captioning Resources, Inc., are substantially lower than VITAC's quote of $169 per hour. The CaptionMax and Captioning Resources, Inc. quotes limit the time during which the programming may be captioned to 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday-Friday. Providing closed captioning services during these hours is of little use to ACN, however, given the fact that most of the viewers of its programming are able to access its programming only during overnight hours when those providers do not provide closed captioning services. Given the times at which ACN is programming is available to most of its viewers, VITAC is the only vendor which provided a quote for providing closed captioning services during those hours. Not only does VITAC provide captioning services during all hours, but VITAC also has experience captioning the type of programming presented by ACN because VITAC is the captioning service used by Home Shopping Network and America's store, other "Home Shopping" program distributors. ACN views VITAC's experience as a definite plus, because accuracy is a concern for ACN. As discussed below, mistaken captions which contradict the information presented graphically on screen could complicate the ordering process and create ill will among potential customers. VITAC's experience in providing captioning services for like program distributors will likely result in more accurate captions. 7. ACN has also attempted to obtain quotes for the costs of providing closed captioning services provided in-house. To date ACN has not been able to determine what such in-house costs would be, or how such in-house closed captioning services would be implemented. Accuracy of in-house closed captioning services would also be a concern if ACN were to attempt to closed caption its programming in-house. 8. VITAC's rate card price for real-time closed captioning is $169 per hour, although VITAC offers discounts for long term contracts and other factors, although ACN is uncertain whether it is eligible for such discounts. In addition to the hourly rate ACN would be responsible for providing an encoder, a modem, and a toll-free line at a cost of roughly $11,000. To comply with the Commission's rules, ACN would be obligated to provide closed captioning for ten hours per day, seven days per week. Using VITAC's rate card rate for captioning services for 10 hours per day, seven days a week the daily cost of captioning 10 hours of programming would be $1,690, or $616,850 per year. Including the cost of the necessary encoder, modem and telephone line the cost would be approximately $628,000 for the first year. If a ten percent discount were to apply, ACN's daily expenditure would be $1,521, or approximately $555,000 per year. During the first year the cost would be $566,000 per year. 9. ACN does not invest a great deal of its resources on program production. Most of its costs of operation are consumed by acquiring and storing an inventory of products available for sale, by purchasing airtime from its affiliates, in shipping and handling, and in providing the equipment and salary of its merchandising and operations staffs. ACN's sets are rudimentary, its camera equipment is neither extensive nor expensive, and its production sets occupy only a very small portion of the building in which ACN is located. Because of these circumstances it is difficult to factor out the costs of program production from ACN's total budget. The only reliable estimate of the cost of producing an hour of ACN programming is the addition of the costs of the salaries of the program host, support personnel and cameramen. These costs total approximately $155.00 per hour. 10. Accordingly, comparing the VITAC quote for closed captioning to ACN's program production costs shows that closed captioning an hour of its programming will cost ACN 108 percent of ACN's cost for an hour of program production. Even were ACN to receive a ten percent discount from VITAC the cost of an hour's closed captioning its programming would equal close to 100 percent of its cost for an hour of program production. Under any objective view of the facts a 100 percent addition to program production costs necessary to closed caption its programming is clearly a significant burden for ACN to shoulder, and a "significant difficulty or expense" within the meaning of section 79.1 of the Commission's rules. 11. VITAC's quote encourages ACN to recoup some of its closed captioning costs by obtaining sponsors willing to pay a fee for a billboard or graphic display during a program. Another possibility not discussed in VITAC's quote is the possibility of seeking a grant or scholarship to defray some of the costs of closed captioning programming. ACN believes the amounts which might be obtained to help defray the costs of its closed captioning will be negligible to nil. In the first instance, ACN does not believe that its programming is conducive to obtaining either sponsorships or grants for its closed captioned programming. Since ACN's programming is essentially a sales presentation, inserting a short sales presentation in the midst of a longer one is not likely to be attractive to prospective sponsors. Likewise, likely sources for grants or scholarships are not likely to provide grants or scholarships for closed captioning what is essentially a sales presentation. Moreover, "home shopping" program services with a longer history and greater resources than ACN have not, on information and belief, been able to obtain either program sponsors or grants or scholarships for their closed captioned programming. The experience of similar program providers indicates that the possibility of obtaining sponsors for ACN's closed captioning programming is largely illusory. 12. Even were obtaining such scholarships or grants a realistic possibility for ACN, seeking such sponsorships or grants is a task that is beyond the capability of ACN's present marketing/affiliate relations staff of four full- time and part-time employees. ACN's current staff has neither the training nor the time to spend much of their limited resources on obtaining sponsorships or grants. Hiring more personnel to pursue the wholly speculative and unproven possibility of obtaining sponsors for closed captioned programming is not a prudent use of ACN's limited resources. There is little likelihood that the income generated by sponsors or grants obtained by additional employees will cover the cost of their salaries. B. The Impact on the Operation or the Program Owner 13. As shown in section lI(a) above the burden which would be imposed on ACN to close caption its programming is severe. Closed captioning its programming would impose a 100 percent increase in the cost of an hour of program production. In addition, the benefits which would be gained by closed captioning its programming would be disproportionate to its exorbitant cost. As noted above, the essential information concerning each product, including a description of the product, the price, the item number, and information on how to order is presently graphically on-screen with each product. Because of this visual presentation the accuracy of the closed captions becomes vitally important. If the closed captions contain inaccurate information, or information which contradicts the information displayed on-screen, the resulting customers' confusion would be great, impacting on ACN's sales staff by increasing the time spent with each order. Contradictory or inaccurate captioned information also has the potential to create ill will among customers exposed to the mistaken information. ACN's operation, and its income, is dependent on the speed and ease with which its orders are processed. Confusion concerning the price, description or number of an item for sale will, at a minimum, decrease the speed at which orders can be taken and processed. Slowing the pace of orders could have a detrimental impact on ACN's entire operation. ACN cannot now make any realistic estimate concerning how many errors closed captioning will inject in its sales presentations, or how accurate such closed captioned information will be, but if mistakes are made in closed captions the potential for error, confusion and ill will could slow down the ordering process on which ACN is dependent. C. The Financial Resources of ACN 14. From the financial information provided herein it is clear that ACN's financial resources are limited. Although ACN's revenues have grown, and are not now insignificant, it would be a mistake to concentrate on ACN's gross revenues and ignore the small profit margin on which it operates. During its last full year, ACN's total revenues equaled $87,554,946 and its net profit equaled $1,546,307, or 1.7 percent of its total revenues. The year before, on sales of $45,727,871, its profit of only $287,136 was only six-tenths of one percent of its total revenues. For fiscal year 1999 its profit margin was three-tenths of one percent of its total revenues of $22,378,343. Less than two percent of its revenues is not much of a margin upon which to operate, especially in an uncertain economy. An unplanned increase in the cost of the products it sells, or a downturn in the economy could wipe out ACN's profit margin entirely. 15. Looking at the burden of closed captioning its programming in another way, the first year cost of $approximately $628,000 is 40 percent of ACN's profit for its last fiscal year. Comparing the cost to ACN's profit for the fiscal year 2000, the cost of closed captioning its programming would equal 215 percent of its net profit during fiscal 2000. Comparing the costs of closed captioning its programming with its profits for 1999, only two years ago, shows that the cost of closed captioning would equal 822 percent of its net profit. ACN submits that it is impossible not to categorize a cost equal to 40 percent of ACN's profits during its last year as a "significant difficulty or expense." 47 C.F.R. Sec. 79.1(f)(2). While the Commission refused to categorize 40 percent of the cost of program production as "economically burdensome," see Outland Sports, Inc., supra, adding 108 percent to the cost of program production is certainly a significant burden. Likewise, adding an expense equal to 40 percent of a company's profit during its last year to comply with the closed captioning requirements is clearly a significant burden, indeed, an undue burden. D. The Type of Operations of the Program Owner 16. In making a determination of whether complying with the closed captioning requirements imposes an "undue burden" on a program provider the Commission must also evaluate the benefits to the hearing impaired promised by closed captioning the programming. ACN's "Home Shopping Network" programming is already largely accessible to the hearing impaired without closed captioning because the essential information about each item for sale, including the description of the item, the reference number, the price and information concerning ordering are flashed on the screen. ACN is already accepting orders from the hearing impaired who have access to the proper equipment. While "... Commission has concluded that the spoken dialog in programs that use graphics and text to sell products or services adds information that would be lost to consumers with hearing disabilities..." Home Shopping Club, LP, 15 FCC Rcd 10790, Par 10 (Cable Services Bureau, 2000), the loss of information, in this instance, is not great. the Commission cannot ignore the fact that, unlike most programming to which its closed captioning rules apply, closed captioning is not necessary to provide hearing impaired consumers with the essential information concerning the products ACN offers for sale, or how such a customer may place an order. In this instance the issue is not access for the hearing impaired to ACN's programming, but improved or enhanced access for the hearing impaired. The difference between no access and greater access is relevant to a determination of whether complying with the closed captioning requirements comprises a disproportionate or undue burden on the program provider. Because of its use of text and graphics ACN's programming is already accessible to the hearing impaired, and ACN has already taken orders from the hearing impaired with the necessary equipment, and the process for ordering ACN products by the hearing impaired will not change even were its programming closed captioned. Imposing the costs of closed captioning its programming for the small additional benefit to be gained by closed captioning the hosts' sales patter with each product is imposing a disproportionate cost on the program provider for a limited benefit to the hearing impaired consumer. 17. There is also no question that closed captioning ACN's programming will impose a disproportionate burden on the petitioner without a proportional benefit to hearing impaired consumers. In addition to the heavy cost of closed captioning its live programming as outlined in section II(a) above, and the fact that ACN programming is already accessible to the hearing impaired, many of ACN's affiliates, including most of those in the largest markets, make ACN programming available only during late night and early morning hours when the programming is exempt from the closed captioning requirements. See 47 C.F.R. Sec. 79. 1(d)(5). As noted above, because of its agreements with its affiliated cable systems and broadcast stations, most of ACN's programming is actually viewed by its audience during the overnight hours of 12:00 to 7:00 a.m. A significant number of affiliates, particularly in large markets such as Kansas City (KCWE), Houston (KNWS) and Washington, D.C. (WJAL), make ACN programming available only during exempt hours. 18. A review of the specifics of its affiliate relationships show how little ACN programming is available to viewers during hours which are not exempt pursuant to section 79.1(d)(5). For example, in Boston ACN's cable affiliate broadcasts ACN programming only from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., and its broadcast affiliate from 1:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Thus its cable viewers see ACN programming during only three non-exempt hours and its broadcast viewers see ACN programming during only two non-exempt hours. In Los Angeles ACN's broadcast affiliate, KJLA, only shows ACN programming from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., or during only two non-exempt hours, and its other broadcast affiliate, KRCA, broadcasts ACN programming only from 3:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., which is an exempt hour. ACN's Washington, D.C. broadcast affiliate, WJAL, broadcasts ACN programming only from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. on weekends and 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. on weekdays, which means that all of ACN's programming shown in that market, except for one hour on Saturday and Sunday, is seen only during exempt hours. In the San Franciso market, ACN's only affiliate in the market, KFTY, Santa Rosa, shows ACN's programming from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., or during only two non-exempt hours. KNWS, ACN's Houston broadcast affiliate, shows ACN programming from 2:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., or during only one non-exempt hour. KLDT, ACN's Dallas affiliate, broadcasts ACN programming from 2:30 a.m. to 8:30 am., or during only two and one half non exempt hours. Accordingly, a majority of the people viewing ACN's programming are watching during hours when the Commission's closed captioning requirements do not apply, i.e., between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. See 47 C.F.R. Sec. 79.1(d)(5). 19. Accordingly, captioning 10 hours per day of ACN programming during non- exempt hours will provide closed captioning during the hours when a significant segment of ACN's potential audience will not be able to see it. The number of those in ACN's audience which will be able to view ACN's closed captioned programming during non-exempt and non-overnight hours becomes correspondingly smaller. Clearly, the benefit to value ratio of providing closed captioning programming is significantly less, and the financial burden of providing closed captioning program significantly more, if ACN is providing closed captioning for a smaller minority of ACN's potential audience. The hearing impaired are bound to be a much smaller minority of the total audience viewing its programming during non-exempt or non-overnight hours. Forcing ACN to closed caption programming which is already accessible to the hearing impaired during the limited number of hours and for the limited number of viewers which are watching ACN programming during non-exempt hours imposes a crushing burden on ACN with little benefit to the hearing impaired. III. Conclusion 20. The evidence adduced above unquestionably shows that the costs of providing closed captioned programming impose a significant burden on ACN without much attendant public benefit. In fact, ACN programming is already accessible to the hearing impaired because of the text and graphic displays which accompany its sales presentations. The cost of providing additional access for the hearing impaired to ACN's sales presentations by providing closed captioning is equal to 108 percent of ACN's typical program cost. Moreover, the prospective cost of closed captioning equals a full 40 percent of ACN's profits during the last fiscal year and 215 percent of its profit in the preceding year. 21. Closed captioning will, inevitably, inject errors into ACN's sales presentations which will result in customer confusion and ill will. The confusion caused by discrepancies between the captioned information and that provided by text and graphics will slow up the process of taking customer orders, and ACN depends on speed in its ordering process to be profitable. ACN's financial resources, particularly when compared with the costs of closed captioning, are meager. The costs of closed captioning its programming equal 108 percent of the cost of program production. Only three years ago ACN's whole profit equaled only one-eighth of the cost required to closed caption its programming. Today the cost of closed captioning its programming would consume 40 percent of its net profit for the last year for which records are available. 22. Finally, the heavy cost of closed captioning will not result in a concomitant public benefit. ACN's programming is already accessible to the hearing impaired through ACN's use of text and graphics to provide information on the products it sells. At issue is not access for the hearing impaired, but greater or improved access to information concerning ACN's products. The heavy cost of closed captioning is simply not justified, particularly in view of the fact that a majority of ACN's affiliates, including those in the largest markets, carry its programming during overnight hours when ACN's programming would be exempt from closed captioning. In several large markets, such as Kansas City and Washington, D.C., ACN's programming is available only during exempt hours. In other major markets, such as Boston, San Francisco, Houston and Dallas ACN programming is viewed during only a few non-exempt hours. 23. The cost of providing closed captioning in accordance with the Commission's rules during the few non-exempt hours during which its programming may be viewed, equals 108 percent of the cost per hour of its typical program production, and would consume 40 percent of its net profits during the last year for which such figures are available, and 215 percent of its profits for the preceeding year. Clearly, costs of this magnitude constitute a "significant expense or difficulty." The public interest benefits of providing greater access to its programming for the hearing impaired do not offset the crushing costs that providing closed captioning by ACN entails. The burden is especially heavy when ACN must close caption 10 hours per day of programming when in most of its major markets its programming is available during only two or three non-exempt hours. ACN, accordingly, respectfully requests an exemption from closed captioning it programming on the basis of the undue burden that such closed captioning will impose on it. Wherefore, the foregoing considered, America's Collectible Network respectfully requests that the Commission declare it exempt from complying with the closed captioned requirements of section 79.1 of the Commission's Rules. Respectfully Submitted, AMERICA'S COLLECTIBLE NETWORK, INC. By: Joseph E. Dunne III Its Attorney Joseph E. Dune III Attorney At Law P.O. Box 9203 Durango, CO 81302-9203 (970) 385-7312 lawman@animas.net Footnotes: *1. The factual representations made in this petition are taken from the Verified Statement of F. Robert Hall, ACN's president, included in Exhibit 1 to this petition. *2. On WRNN, ACN's New York broadcast affiliate, only on Fridays is ACN programming available during non-overnight hours. On the other days of the week ACN programming is available from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00, 6:00 or 7:00 a.m., depending on the day. *3. The quotes for real-time closed captioning services are included in Attachment B of Exhibit 1. VERIFIED STATEMENT I, F. Robert Hall, in accordance with section 1.16 of the Rules and Regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, make the following statement under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of Tennessee, where I am currently residing, and the United States of America. 1. I am the president of America's Collectibles Network, Inc. ("ACN"). The facts set forth in the following statement are known to me personally, or were reported to me in the normal course of their employment duties by Dennis Wilson, Engineer; Crawford A. Wagner, Controller; Michael Pearson, Marketing; and, Patsy Harris, Affiliate Relations. 2. ACN is a "home shopping network" program service, and provides programming on a 24 hour per day, seven days a week schedule. During a typical program an article, such as a piece of jewelry, is offered for sale by a host. Information concerning the item and its price is displayed on the screen, and the program host provides a further verbal description of the item. While the commentary provided by the host is important to the sales presentation, the essential information concerning each item for sale is graphically presented on the viewer's screen. Viewers phone in orders for the product. Essentially all ACN programming is broadcast live. 3. The direct cost of producing a typical hour of ACN programming, including salaries for the host, support personnel and camera crews, is on average about $155.00 per hour. These are the only people involved in our program production. Other expenses which may be attributed to program production are hard to quantify. For instance, the sets used for program production are rudimentary, and have already been constructed and paid for. The building in which ACN produces its programming is shared by the remainder pf ACN's operation, including offices for its administrative staff, storage space for inventory of product, shipping and space for its sales staff. The portion of ACN's building devoted to program production is very small. The camera equipment is largely old and/or inexpensive, and a per hour cost is difficult to quantify. Most of ACN's costs are attributable to its purchase of an inventory of product available for sale, airtime and other operational expenses other than programming costs. 4. ACN began operation in 1993 when its programming was first carried on a C- band satellite. At that time, and for some time thereafter, ACN programming was received only by owners of C-band satellite receivers. In 1997 ACN programming began to be carried on a very limited basis on one television broadcast station. Beginning in 1998, additional stations and cable networks were added. As of March 1, 2002 ACN programming is distributed via: C-band satellite to C-band satellite receivers; small dish satellite receiver owners served by DirectTV and Echostar/Dish; 49 cable systems; 33 full power television stations and 22 low power television stations. A list of the cable systems, broadcast stations and networks on which ACN programming is viewed, and the time at which it programming is aired, is included in Attachment A. 5. ACN first became aware of obligations to carry closed captioned programming during the first quarter of 2002 when it learned of an FCC decision concerning Shop At Home and consulted its communications counsel. The requirements came as a shock to us, since we have received no complaints from anyone concerning ACN's lack of closed captioned programming. ACN does receive orders from the hearing impaired who have the necessary equipment to communicate with ACN's sales staff, but such orders are believed to be extremely rare. Since becoming aware of the potential applicability of the Commission's closed captioning requirements to it, ACN employees have researched closed captioning services, contacted other "home shopping network" program distributors, and contacted organizations which provide closed captioning services. ACN has endeavored to obtain a quote for closed captioning its programming for 10 hours per day. The quotes received by ACN are included in Attachment B, and are for real-time closed captioning. Each quote requires ACN to provide a toll-free telephone line, an encoder and a modem. These items would cost ACN over $10,000. The quotes obtained by ACN range from a quote from $110 per hour for realtime (live) captioning between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (CaptionMax), to $115 per hour for realtime captioning between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (Caption Reporters, Inc.), to a high of $169 during any time bloc, including Saturday and Sunday, from VITAC. VITAC offers discounts for longer term contracts, increased coverage hours, and exclusivity. Signing a long-term, two to five year contract, would result in a 10 to 20 percent discount from VITAC's quoted rate card rate. The exact amount of the discounted rate was not available at this time. 6. The captioning services organization such as CaptionMax and Captioning Reporters, Inc. which would provide realtime closed captioning only between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday are not acceptable to ACN. ACN, like most program providers, seeks to program for its greatest audience, in the case of ACN, during the non-exempt overnight hours and other selected periods where ACN viewership is high. Moreover, given the nature of ACN's programming it is important that the price and item information provided by the closed captions are accurate. ACN's revenues are dependent on the ease and speed with which ACN's sales staff can take and process orders for its products. Any uncertainty concerning the product or the price of the product would slow down the ordering process. VITAC provides closed captioning services for Home Shopping Network and America's store, and its services are available during non-exempt overnight hours. 7. Using VITAC's services for closed captioning for ten hours per day, seven days a week, at its rate card rate, would result in a yearly cost to ACN of $616,850 for closed captioning services. If ACN were to be eligible for a ten percent discount from the quoted rate card rate the yearly cost would still be in excess of $556,000 per year. In its quote VITAC raises the possibility that ACN could obtain caption sponsors, who would pay a fee in exchange for a five to ten second billboard or graphic displayed during the programming. While such sponsorships for a portion of the closed captioning costs might help defray some of the expenses of closed captioning, ACN does not believe that obtaining such sponsorships in any significant numbers is a realistic possibility. In the first place, ACN does not believe that its programming is conducive to selling such sponsorships, since ACN's programming is essentially a sales presentation. Few sponsors are likely to pay to have their sales messages inserted in a longer and more elaborate sales presentation. In this regard, ACN notes, on information and belief, that none of the other "home shopping network" program distributors have any sponsors for their closed captioned programming. Moreover, adding the burden of selling such sponsorships, even if there were an interest, would be a heavy burden to lay on ACN's already overtaxed marketing/affiliate relations staff of four full- time and part-time employees. Given these factors, particularly, the failure of existing and higher revenue home shopping network programmers to obtain sponsors for their closed captioned programming, all of which have had some time to seek such sponsors, leads ACN to conclude that the amount of additional revenue which it is likely to obtain from sponsors for closed captioned programming is likely to be negligible to nil. 8. Upon learning of the closed captioning requirements and during its research ACN has also attempted to determine what personnel and equipment it would need to acquire to perform the closed captioning of its programming on its own premises. To date it has been impossible to obtain a realistic estimate of the number and the cost of personnel which would be required to permit ACN to do its own closed captioning in-house. If it had additional time, ACN would investigate closed captioning through the non-exempt overnight hours using its own personnel. Developing this capability in-house will take significant time and effort. However, based upon our initial analysis the costs of performing closed captioning in-house will be less than performing like services by contract. 9. As noted above, ACN has been in business since 1993. Net revenue for the year ended 10/31/1994 was $4,897,553. Net revenue for the year ending 10/31/1995 was $6,819,170. Net revenue for the year ending 10/31/1996 was $3,924,021. Net revenue for the year ending 6/30/1997 was $5,252,145. During this time period all ACN sales were through programming on the C-band satellite. Net revenue for the year ending 6/30/1998 was $10,738,830. Net revenue for the year ending 6/30/1999 was $22,378,343. Net revenue for the year ending 6/30/2000 was $45,727,871. Net revenue for the year ending 6/30/2001 was $87,554,946. ACN's net after tax income for 1998 was $102,970. For 1999 net after tax income was $75,041. 2000 net after tax income was $287,136. Net after tax income for 2001 was $1,546,307. F. Robert Hall Executed by me this 22th Day of April, 2002. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 22nd day of April, 2002. Bonnie L. Langley Notary Public - Tennessee MY COMMISSION EXPIRES: 09-29-2004 AMERICA'S COLLECTIBLE NETWORK PETITION FOR EXEMPTION ATTACHMENT A SCHEDULE OF TIMES AT WHICH ACN PROGRAMMING IS VIEWED ACN AFFILIATES Affiliate CITY STATE Media Type AIR TIMES DAYS Adelphia Cable Colorado Springs CO Cable 2am-9am Mon-Sun Adelphia Cable Lexington KY Cable 8pm-8am & 9am-7pm Mon-Sun AT&T Cable Atlanta GA Cable 12mid-8am Mon-Sun AT&T Cable Boston MA Cable 1am-5am Mon-Sun AT&T Cable Boston (TNN) MA Cable 5am-8am Mon-Sun AT&T Cable Jacksonville FL Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun AT&T Cable Monterey CA Cable 3am-10am Mon-Sun AT&T Cable Richmond VA Cable 7am-11am Mon-Fri AT&T Cable Seattle WA Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun AT&T Cable Salt Lake City UT Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun Cable One Prescott AZ Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun CBAND National National CBAND 24 hrs Mon-Sun Charter Cable Cincinnati/Covington OH/KY Cable 11:35pm-7am Mon-Sun Charter Cable Dallas/Ft. Worth TX Cable 12noon-6pm Mon-Sun Charter Cable Long Beach CA Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun Charter Cable St. Louis MO Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun Comcast Cable Charleston SC Cable 12mid-6am Mon-Sun Comcast Cable Lake County FL Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun Comcast Cable Sarasota FL Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun Cox Cable Fairfax VA Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun Cox Cable Gainesville FL Cable 12am-6:30am Mon-Sun Cox Cable Norfolk/Hampton Rds VA Cable 1am-7am Mon-Thurs 1am-5am Fri&Sat 1:30am-4:30am Sun Cox Cable New Orleans LA Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun Cox Cable Los Angeles CA Cable 12noon-7pm Mon-Fri 3pm-7pm Sat&Sun Cox Cable Phoenix AZ Cable 12:30am-9:30am Sat-Tues 1am-7:30am Wed-Fri 8:30am-9:30am Wed-Fri 3pm-7pm Mon-Fri Cox Cable Roanoke VA Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun Cox Cable Santa Barbara CA Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun Cox Cable San Diego CA Cable 7am-1pm Mon-Sun 3pm-12am Sun 2am-6am Sun Direct ChannelG National National DBS 12:30pm-7:30pm Sun only Echostar National National DBS 24 hrs-Interruptable Mon-Sun K35GE Boise ID Low Power 24 hrs Mon-Sun KBCB Seattle/Tacoma WA Full Power 3am-9am 11am-6pm Mon-Sun KBEJ Fredricksburg TX Full Power 3am-7am Mon-Sun KBTR Baton Rouge LA Low Power 1am-8am Mon-Sun KCSO Sacramento CA Low Power 4am-9am Mon-Fri 3am-8am Sat & Sun KCWE Kansas City MO Full Power 3am-6am Mon-Sun KDEN Denver CO Full Power 12am-8am Mon 11am-7pm Mon 7am-6pm Tues 12am-4am Tues 8pm-4am Wed 12am-4am Thurs 7am-7pm Thurs 12am-4am Fri 7am-7pm Fri 2pm-8am Sat 12am-9am Sun 3pm-9pm Sun KDPX Palm Springs CA Low Power 3am-11am Mon-Sun KFDF Fort Smith AR Full Power 1am-7am Mon-Sun KFTY Santa Rosa CA Full Power 5am-8am Mon-Thurs KGEC Redding CA Low Power 3am-9am Mon-Sun KJLA Los Angeles CA Full Power 3am-9am Mon-Sun 11am-1pm Mon-Fri KJOI Bakersfield CA Low Power 24 hrs Mon-Sun KKFX Fresno/Visalia CA Full Power 3:30am-9am Mon-Sun KLDT Dallas/Ft. Worth TX Full Power 2:30am-8:30am Mon-Sun KMMF Missoula MT Full Power 24 hrs Mon-Sun KMNO Monroe LA Low Power 11pm-7pm Mon-Sun KMSG Fresno CA Low Power 24 hrs Mon-Sun KNSO Modesto CA Full Power 5am-9:30am Sat&Sun KNWS Houston TX Full Power 2:30am-7am Mon-Sun KPHZ Phoenix AZ Low Power 8am-7am Mon-Sat 10am-8am Sun 1am-2pm Mon-Fri KPXK Midland/Odessa TX Full Power 1am-5pm Sat&Sun KQOK Oklahoma City OK Full Power 24 hrs Mon-Sun KRCA Los Angeles CA Full Power 4am-9am Mon-Sun 3am-40m Tues,Wed,Thurs KSDX San Diego CA Full Power 24 hrs Mon-Sun KSSY Santa Barbara CA Low Power 2am-9pm Mon-Sun KTSB Santa Barbara CA Low Power 12noon-3pm Mon-Fri 3pm-7pm Sat&Sun KTVY Las Vegas NV Low Power 12:30am-8pm Mon-Fri 10am-2am Sat&Sun KTWO Casper WY Full Power 3am-7:30am Mon-Fri 3:30am-7am Sat 4am-7am Sun KUTH Logan UT Full Power 24 hrs Mon-Sun KWBF Little Rock AR Low Power 1am-7am Mon-Sun KWBJ Baton Rouge LA Low Power 1am-7am Mon-Sun Marketconnect Philadelphia Network/Cable Region PA Cable 1am-6am Mon-Sun Sunshine Network State of Florida FL Regional 3am-6am Fri-Mon Programming Network TRIO-D TRIO Network National Programming 3am-8am Mon-Sun Network TWC-AKR Akron OH Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-ALNY Albany NY Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-ASH Asheboro NC Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-BAK Bakersfield CA Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-BUR Burlington NC Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-CAN Canton OH Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-CGW Warren Co. OH Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-CHAT Chatsworth CA Cable 2:30am-4pm Mon-Fri TWC-CIN Cincinnati OH Cable 3:30pm-8pm Mon-Fri 9:30pm-12am Mon-Fri 12pm-6pm Sat&Sun TWC-GRN Greensboro NC Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-HIL Hillsborough FL Cable 6pm-10pm Mon-Thurs 6pm-12am Fri 9am-10pm Sat & Sun TWC-LEXN Lexington NC Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-MAN Manatee FL Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-MNFD Mansfield OH Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-ORDO Orlando FL Cable 11pm-11am Mon-Sun TWC-POR Portland ME Cable 10:30pm-6am Mon-Sun & 11am-4pm TWC-REID Reidsville NC Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-SD San Diego CA Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-STP St. Petersburg FL Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-TRI Tri-Counties FL Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun TWC-WIN Winston Salem NC Cable 24 hrs Mon-Sun WAOE Peoria IL Full Power 1am-8am Mon-Sun WAWA Syracuse NY Low Power 12am-6pm Mon-Sun WAXC Montgomery AL Low Power 10am-l2noon Mon-Fri 11pm-7am Mon-Fri 3pm-5pm Sat&Sun 11pm-6am Sat&Sun WBIF Panama City FL Full Power 11pm-6am Mon-Sun WBPL Toledo OH Low Power 24 hrs Mon-Sun WCGT Columbus GA Low Power 12noon-3pm Sun-Fri 7am-10am Sat WDMR Hartford CT Low Power 12mid-7am Mon-Sun WDNI Indianapolis IN Low Power 11am-2pm Mon-Fri WEVU Naples/Ft. Myers FL Full Power 12mid-7am Mon-Sun WFGX Pensacola FL Full Power 12mid-6am Mon-Sun 12noon-3pm WFMZ Allentown PA Full Power 1am-5am Mon 1:30am-8am Tues-Wed 1:30am-6am Sat 1:30am-6am Sun 2am-8am Thur-Fri 3am-8am Mon-Fri WFXS Wausau WI Full Power 3am-8am Sat 4:30am-8am Sun WFXV Utica NY Full Power 12:30am-6:30am Mon-Fri 12am-6:30am Sat & Sun WHTV Lansing MI Full Power 2am-9am Mon-Sun WJAL Washington DC Full Power 1am-6am Mon-Fri 2am-6am Sat & Sun WJXS Sylacauga AL Low Power 2am-8am Mon-Sun 3pm-5pm WLYH Harrisburg/Lancaster PA Full Power 1am-6am Mon-Sun WOBZ Lexington KY Low Power 11pm-10pm Mon-Sun 1pm-7pm Mon-Sat 2pm-8pm Sun WOHL Lima OH Low Power 1am-8am Mon-Sun WOTM Birmingham (Hoover) AL Low Power 1am-8am Mon-Sun WPAN Mobile/Pensacola FL Full Power 2pm-7pm Mon-Sun WPXS Mt. Vernon IL Full Power 12mid-8am Mon-Sun WRCX Dayton OH Low Power 10:30pm-6:30pm Mon-Sun WRDM Hartford CT Low Power 12:30mid-7am Mon-Sun WRNN New York NY Full Power 1am-5pm 1am-6am Mon-Thurs 7am-2pm Fri 1am-6am Sat 1am-7am Sun WTCN West Palm Beach (Stuart) FL Full Power 11pm-7am Mon-Sun WVFX Clarksburg WV Full Power 2:30am-5:30am Mon-Thur 2am-6am Fri-Sat 2am-5:30am Sun WWBI Burlington VT Low Power 2am-8am Mon-Sat WWDP Boston MA Full Power 1:30am-6am Mon-Fri 2am-6:30am Sat&Sun WXSP Grand Rapids MI Low Power 12am-5am Mon-Sun AMERICA'S COLLECTIBLE NETWORK PETITION FOR EXEMPTION ATTACHMENT B QUOTES FOR CLOSED CAPTIONING Dennis Wilson ____________________ From: Donna Horn [donna.l.horn@verizon.net] Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 2:10 PM To: Dennis Wilson Subject: Re: CaptionMax Information Hello Dennis. I would like to send you a formal proposal so you have the opportunity to learn more about CaptionMax. Would you kindly send me your address? In the meantime, I can offer you a rate of $110 per hour for realtime (live) captioning from 7 am - 6 pm, 5 days per week. This rate assumes that your company will cover the cost of the toll-free line. I hope we have the opportunity to work together. Regards, Donna Horn Vice President CaptionMax Inc. 212-686-3644 Dennis Wilson wrote: Donna..our captioning hours would be from 7am to 6pm...5 days a week. we would provide the toll-free line.. Please let me know if you have any other questions... Thanks Dennis.. ---Original Message--- From: Donna Horn Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 5:37 PM To: Dennis Wilson Subject: CaptionMax Information Hello Mr. Wilson. I am eager to speak with you about CaptionMax's captioning services. We are a very experienced real-time captioning company. We are currently captioning the Winter Olympics for NBC and preparing for March Madness on CBS. In addition to NBC Sports and CBS Sports our live captioning clients include Buena Vista Television, Columbia TriStar. Court TV, Lifetime Television, MTV, NASDAQ, PBS, Studios USA, Telemundo, VH1, Warner Bros Television and others. I would be happy to provide you with a bid for the live captioning of your programming. My rates are very competitive, especially for the type of volume captioning you are seeking. I do have several questions before I can give you a firm bid. Would the 10 hours of captioning per day be consecutive hours or 3/15/02 Captioning Proposal for ACN Television Caption Reporters, Inc. would like to present Dennis Wilson, of ACN TV with the following proposal for captioning. CRI will provide captioning services: Monday-Friday 11 hours per day. 5 days a week. The schedule is as follows: Monday-Friday: 7:00am - 6:00pm Hours per Week: 11-hr. Per day, 5 days a week = 55 hrs. Total Hours Per Year 2871 Rates $115.00 per hour Total Per Month $27,513.75 Total Per Year $330,165.00 VITAC Corporation Providing Vital Access Darryn Cleary, Vice President, Sales 101 Hillpointe Drive Canonsburg, PA 15317 Voice 724-514-4081 darryn-c@vitac.com Fax 724-514-4111 February 12, 2002 Mr. Dennis Wilson Chief Engineer America's Collectibles Network 10001 Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN 37922 Dennis, It was great to speak with you this morning about VITAC's real-time closed services for America's Collectibles Network. I appreciate this opportunity to provide you with more information about our company and a proposal for your programming. VITAC is a 15-year-old national firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with additional operations facilities in Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. We are the largest closed captioning company in the country, and we have a top reputation for providing the highest quality services at affordable prices. We are also the leaders in real-time captioning, providing over 900 hours of services per week to major national broadcast networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN. You'll also note that we are the exclusive provider of captioning for Home Shopping Network and America's Store, providing real-time captioning for 10 hours per day, per network. In addition to meeting FCC captioning requirements, captioning will increase America's Collectibles Network's audience, Department of Education figures show that 133 million Americans benefit from closed captioning. This number includes deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, senior citizens (over 80% of the over-65 population has a hearing loss), children and adults learning to read English and improving their literacy skills, and viewers who turn down the volume on the television set because of sleeping family members. In addition, many viewers continue to watch captioned programming while talking on the phone (potentially while ordering merchandise), and also when household appliances or outside noise drowns out program audio. If you're webcasting your programs to reach a larger audience, adding captions produces the same result - and we can even add captions to your webcasts as well. VITAC PROVIDES VITAC's service ensures that all of your viewers can enjoy full accessibility to your programming, and here are some of the features and benefits of our service: Experienced, trained captioners - VITAC hires only Registered Professional Reporters and trains them to provide the most accurate captions for uniform quality throughout our service. Unlike other captioning services, we will establish a group of main captioners and backup captioners exclusively for your network so that you have the most accurate, consistent captioning. We a]ready have thousands of hours of experience captioning HSN's programming, so we'd have no problems adapting to your network. Production Staff - Our large production staff will guide you through the entire process. In addition to answering any general captioning questions, they will work with you to determine the best placement for captions, so that our text is not in the way of important ordering information, or covering the product. We've worked around time clocks and scoreboxes (football and baseball games), stock and news tickers (CNN) and price tags and product description (FSN Daily Sports Source and HSN), so we know how to position captions to be an integral part of the screen and NOT a distraction. Total Monitoring - VITAC's offices are equipped with the latest satellite technology, and we can assure you that we will be monitoring captions at all times on C Band or KU Band satellites, or using your O&Os networks for visual confirmation. Engineering support - VITAC makes our knowledgeable engineers available via phone or email 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to assist with the initial setup of your captioning system and to provide ongoing support once you're on the air. We'll even make a personal visit down to Knoxville to help you install your encoder and to help get you up and running. Facility support - VITAC will utilize its state-of-the-art facility in Canonsburg, PA, or another remote site to support your captioning in the unlikely event of a live technical malfunction. AMERICA'S COLLECTIBLES NETWORK PROVIDES Another important component of our service is the minimal amount of equipment and manpower that we require from our clients. ACNTV will need to provide: A line-21 caption encoder with a toll-free* phone line to receive the caption information and to insert it into your broadcast. VITAC will provide the necessary initial tech support at no additional charge. A toll-free* backup program audio line to enable our captioners to hear your programming in the event of satellite receiver or cable problems. A contact person to coordinate and confirm weekly program schedules, changes and other production matters. *If you are not able to provide toll-free phone lines, there will be a $6 communications reimbursement charge per phone line, per program hour. Our Engineering Manager, Tim Taylor, can help with any of the above items, and he has over 20 years experience in the captioning industry. He can be reached at 724-514-4070, and is a great resource to bounce questions off and discuss equipment/set-up recommendations. PRICES Once we know the exact times of day, or blocks of time, that you're looking to caption, we can evaluate the volume of programming to accurately reflect a pricing discount. Just as a reference for you, if you're looking to caption 10 hours of programming per day, the current rate card is $169, with additional discounts for longer term contracts, increased coverage hours, and exclusivity. Since you know best which hours of the day reach the most viewers, it will be your decision to pick the hours that you wish to caption each day. This above rate includes all pre-air research and preparation, real-time captioning and full monitoring, plus ongoing technical support and all back-up systems. We'll need to work out breaks at the top of every hour to switch captioners, so the commercials will not be live captioned. ADDITIONAL SERVICES In addition to captioning your programs, we offer the following services for additional fees: * Caption transcripts emailed immediately after every program. * VChip ratings encoded into the captioning stream. * Video indexing so that video can be searched, by word, on your web site. * Web captioning. I'd be glad to send a description and price list for the above services if you're interested. CAPTION SPONSORSHIP As a way to help defray and possibly cover the cost of captioning, we encourage you to investigate caption sponsorship, where advertisers pay a fee in exchange for a 5 or 10-second billboard or graphic somewhere within the program. For example, the featured product for sale at any given hour could pay an additional fee to sponsor captioning. The billboard can be a short video clip/commercial with voiceover, or a graphic with the host or announcer saying, for example, "Captions for this hour are brought to you by the New Hoover Wind Tunnel Deluxe - making cleaning easier." At the end of the hour, the caption credit could also read "Captions paid for by the the New Hoover Wind Tunnel Deluxe - making cleaning easier." SAMPLE TAPE To show you how VITAC's quality captions can enhance your programming, we are offering a free sample of our work. We'll caption a 15-minute segment of your show and provide it you on a VHS tape with opened captions, so that they can be seen on any television set, and you can see a full array of caption placement options. Dennis, I trust that my letter has answered your questions about our real-time captioning and VITAC's services, and how we can provide your viewers with the most accurate captions available. We are very proud of the service that we provide for our clients, and we pledge to offer the highest-quality captions in the industry, coupled with unparalleled customer service, engineering and marketing support. I will follow up with you this afternoon week to see if you have any questions regarding this information. If you need anything before then, please contact me at (724) 514-4081 or 1-800-278-4822. Regards, Darryn Cleary Vice President of Sales