CLOSED CAPTIONING

I depend on closed captioning. Unfortunately, the state of the art in the 21st century leaves a lot to be desired.

Specifically:

On multiple occasions, I have recorded "Emma," a 2014 series that has been appearing on one of the local PBS stations, KBTC. It's been available for twelve years and should be appropriately closed captioned by now. But that is not the case. From the very first moments of the first episode, there are entire segments of missing dialogue that make the entire program unwatchable.

And so starts my LATEST CLOSED-CAPTIONING NIGHTMARE.

I contacted Comcast/Xfinity and was told to report the problem to the FCC. I visited the appropriate website and filed a formal complaint. The FCC acknowledged receipt of the complaint. The FCC contacted Comcast/Xfinity. Comcast/Xfinity contacted me. Comcast/Xfinity contacted KBTC. I could go on...and on... Ultimately, I was assured by Comcast/Xfinity that KBTC had corrected the problem. The FCC also told me the problem was fixed and closed my complaint. I told the FCC I had not been provided with any proof that the problem no longer existed, but they argued that KBTC had no reason to lie, and so that was that for my complaint. Thank you very much and goodbye.

I had no choice but to take everyone at their word and wait for KBTC/Xfinity/Comcast to air the program again. It appeared a few months later, and once more I recorded the program, and guess what - shockingly (heavy sarcasm) the closed captioning issue still existed. Nothing had been resolved: KBTC had lied to the FCC and Comcast/Xfinity.

I tried watching Sense and Sensibility (2020), also appearing on KBTC, and to my utter amazement, the closed captioning on this program was also a complete failure.

BY now I had been told by a representative of the Comcast/Xfinity Office of Accessibility not to contact the FCC in the future but to call Comcast/Xfinity because my account had been flagged for this closed captioning accessibility issue and they would help me if I ran into closed captioning issues in the future. So I contacted Comcast/Xfinity. Again.

They told me to contact the FCC. Again.

Yes, that is smoke coming out of my head...

To add insult to injury, Comcast/Xfinity has also asked me to review my recordings and provide timestamps for the missing segments of closed captioning.

I refuse. That is not my job.

I need a wealthy benefactor who would provide the funding so I could take Comcast/Xfinity, KBTC and the FCC to federal court and sue their asses off.

I am so angry I am beyond any more words.