BT Sport has selected Red Bee Media’s automated subtitling service ARC (Automatic Real-time Captioning) to increase its amount of subtitled sports content by around 200 extra hours per month.
It is the first time a major UK broadcaster has deployed the automated service, with ARC supporting a wide range of live sports coverage alongside Red Bee Media’s existing human subtitling service.
Red Bee describes ARC as a highly accurate automatic live subtitling system that enables broadcasters to efficiently increase the amount of subtitled programming they bring to viewers.
Last year BT Sport broadcast the “most accessible” coverage of a football match in the UK, which included ARC. At the time, head of BT Sport Jamie Hindhaugh told TVBEurope he wanted increased access services as a standard “as soon as possible across all our live sport”.
Speaking about the new subtitling deal with Red Bee, Hindhaugh said: “We are working hard to make our programming as accessible as possible – viewers can expect to see more developments this season.”
Tom Wootton, head of product for Red Bee Access, added: “Providing equal access to content for all viewers is vital for successful and progressive brands. BT Sport has been at the forefront of providing accessible content for several years with Red Bee Media, so we’re delighted to strengthen that partnership with the broadcaster once again as it expands its offering. At Red Bee Media, we pride ourselves on our innovation and global team of experts, who bring unrivalled resilience, reliability and industry-leading quality.”
