Various subtitled shows on free-to-air channels: MediaCorp

Mediacorp provides a variety of programmes that are subtitled on its free-to-air channels ("Reach out to deaf community with English subtitles" by Mr Alfred Yeo Chi Jin, Nov 13; "Help deaf, blind access broadcast, online media" by Mr Alvan Yap Boon Sheng, last Friday; and "English subtitles can improve clarity" by Mr Winston Ho Wing Long, Forum Online, Monday).

The daily news on Channel 5, Channel 8, Channel U and Suria are subtitled in the language of their respective channels. Likewise for the current affairs programmes shown on Channel 8, such as Tuesday Report, Frontline and Focus.

Programmes on Channel NewsAsia that are not in English, such as Japan Hour and Welcome To Taiwan, are subtitled in English, as is the Tamil current affairs programme Ethiroli, which is subtitled in English on Vasantham.

On Channel 5, our selection of English programmes that currently carry English subtitles range from drama series like The Vampire Diaries and Touch, to popular info-educational factual content like CrimeWatch.

For foreign content telecast on our channels, our priority would be to acquire those with subtitles.

For local productions, our emphasis is to provide more vernacular subtitles to our English-language programmes, especially during prime time, to cater to a wider audience.

When MediaCorp goes fully digital next year, one of the features of Digital TV is the ability to provide multi-language subtitles using closed captions.

When this comes about, we hope to acquire more programmes offering subtitles without having to clutter the TV screen with multi-language text, subject to the availability of resources.

Yeong Lai Lai (Ms)

Senior Manager,

Corporate Communications

MediaCorp

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