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CLOSED CAPTIONING OF
VIDEO PROGRAMMING
General Information
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Exemptions From Closed Captioning Rules
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NOTE: In the event a specified video program or video
provider, including distributors (i.e., broadcasters, cable providers, satellite providers)
does not meet the exemption criteria in Section 79.1(d), a petition for exemption may be filed
with the Commission where the requirement to close caption poses an undue burden. This undue
burden petition process is described in detail in the link below entitled: "Requests for Exemption
from Commission's Closed Captioning Rules Where Closed Captioning Would Pose an Undue Burden."
Petitions for exemption based on an undue burden, discussed in Section 79.1(f) of the rules,
must be filed with the Commission according to the instructions on the website to be considered
pending. Pursuant to the Commission's rules, the programming
that is the subject of the undue burden exemption petition is exempt while the petition is
pending. There is no form for these petitions, and electronic and fax filing is not available.
For additional information on the closed captioning rules, we encourage you to review
the 1997 Report and Order (R&O), and the 1998 Reconsideration Order, that adopted the rules,
as well as the Closed Captioning Factsheet. Links to these items are found further down on
this page. Discussion about the undue burden petition standard and process is found in
paragraphs 182-205 of the 1997 R&O, and paragraphs 108-112 of the 1998 Reconsideration Order.
Given the high volume of inquiries we are receiving on this issue, we encourage you to
closely review the material on the following pages. Since, as noted above, these rules and a
phase-in process have been in effect since January 1998, these rules are not new.
As noted above, if you or your programming does not meet one of the self-implementing
exemptions in the rule, found at Section 79.1(d), the only process available to seek an
exemption is the undue burden
process, found at Section 79.1(f). We do not grant waivers, and filing a waiver will not
exempt your programming from the rules.
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