Why do you not broadcast subtitles with films on film4? It's bad enough that hardly any programmes on E4 and More 4 have them but now you launch a fabulous free film channel and ostracise thousands of viewers in the UK. Does channel 4 really hate disabled people?

yes ithink they do perhaps we should post lots of pointless messages on this forum in protest

It is getting better, though, but is still not good enough. Maybe you should speak to the RNID.

Isn't there a law that a certain proportion of programmes should show subtitles and be audio described? Barely half of films have titles - odd since most DVDs have them - and hardly any are audio described.

Marc,

I have even asked that question and forwarded to editorialissues @ channel 4 and i haven't had any reply and also raised this point on this forum and again nothing

I get the impression they are not hearing us (no pun intended) and don't care

quote:

Originally posted by slatanictrash:


I get the impression they are not hearing us (no pun intended) and don't care

Sadly..now you realise....

Reach for the sky film 4 - no subtitles

Reach for the Sky Channel4 - subtitles.

WHY

Many thanks for your posts. We subtitle over half of Film4's output although there is currently no OFCOM requirement to do so.

There are a number of reason why you may not be receiving the subtitles depending on your personal set up.
It may be that your decoder box is not set up correctly, or it may be faulty. If you are watching on cable, and you are sure that you have followed all the instructions supplied with the cable decoder box, then you should contact your local cable operator.
If you are receiving your signal through Sky or Freeview, then ensure that Subtitles is selected in the set-up menu.
Most problems with subtitles are caused by poor reception and this affects Freeview reception as well as analogue televison. Subtitles are affected before the pictures and one channel may be affected when others are not.
Also reflections from, say, a new building can selectively cause reduced effective field strength at the aerial on any frequency - just a matter of chance. Always check the cables and adjust your aerial. If one aerial serves more than one television, you may need to get a reputable aerial supplier to check your installation.
Of course as not all films are subtitled it may be that you have chosen to watch a programme that we have not subtitled. We would like to reassure you that our catalogue of subtitled material is continuing to grow and that your comments have been noted by the relevant department.

In the specific instance of Reach For The Sky, we are sorry that your enjoyment of watching this film on Film4 was spoilt. You may be interested to know that the film is being repeated on Channel 4 on 6th October at 1300 with subtitles.

This particular broadcast of the film on Film4 was not subtitled and was not billed as subtitled, but it is certainly one we will look at for the future.

Please do keep your comments coming in - thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by FilmFour Channel:
Many thanks for your posts. We subtitle over half of Film4's output although there is currently no OFCOM requirement to do so.


Of course as not all films are subtitled it may be that you have chosen to watch a programme that we have not subtitled. We would like to reassure you that our catalogue of subtitled material is continuing to grow and that your comments have been noted by the relevant department.


Please do keep your comments coming in - thank you.

I am getting fed up with the lack of subtitles now, all off last week Film4 premiered new films like The Garden State, I Love the Huckleberries and Neapolean Dynamite without subtitles.

I really find it offensive that you state that there is no legal requirement to show subtitles and that you are proud to subtitle half of the films shown. I would rather say things like "it is not acceptable half of our have subtitles and we will endeavour to ensure that all films on film4 will have subtitles.

I would further advise you that I find it patronising when you state "There are a number of reason why you may not be receiving the subtitles depending on your personal set up.
If you are receiving your signal through Sky or Freeview, then ensure that Subtitles is selected in the set-up menu.
Most problems with subtitles are caused by poor reception and this affects Freeview reception as well as analogue televison.

I am well aware of how to press the subtitles button. you haven't subtitled the films end of story, no need for technical jargon to excuse your lack of subtitles and ensuring the deaf community are left out of viewing pleasures.

and to my final point

"Of course as not all films are subtitled it may be that you have chosen to watch a programme that we have not subtitled. We would like to reassure you that our catalogue of subtitled material is continuing to grow and that your comments have been noted by the relevant department."

I don't feel reassured that your catalogue of subtitled material continues to grow, if anything it's getting less especially the films that you are currently showing at 9.00pm are without subtitles.

It wouldn't surprise me if you turned a deaf ear to the deaf community unhappiness at this situation.

I look forward to a reply to this post in 3 months time as that seems to be how long it would take to even have the decency to reply to a legitimate complaint

As a spectator television history, maybe I could explain a bit better, than the Copy/Paste king above.

Ofcom has only placed a statutory requirement for terrestrial broadcasters to subtitle at least 85% of their programming library, and the figure has been expanding - hence you'll find Channel 4 is obliged to do this.

Film4 however, doesn't have to do this, and if they had a choice they could have one subtitled programme a week!

Logistically, Film4 COULD provide subtitles if they wanted to, seeing as the film may be shown on Channel 4 at one point in time. Question is, we know the two channels come from the same house, so why?

I could speculate these reasons: You'd think the channel has a 20-year backlog of subtitles thanks to its previous relationship with Intelfax (since 1988 if I'm correct - as they seemed to take over subtitling from ORACLE Teletext). But to be honest, output now comes from Red Bee Media, part of the BBCs commercial arm. So here's my guess - all 20 years worth of subtitles are now lost, so they have to either (a) pay to write them again, or (b) purchase subtitles from a 3rd party, and I've seen this is becoming the norm nowadays, since they normally come with American imports, and even ITV have been using Australian Captions' in their US films.

So, if I had the option to place a bet, I reckon there's a technological problem and they're lazy to address it, because they know Ofcom isn't going to come down on them, so in their eyes, 'who give's a toss?'.

Many thanks for your posts on this subject - we do try to show as many subtitled films as possible, but you have rightly pointed out some key recent omissions at 9pm, which we will rectify for future screenings. This is an important part of our service and we really appreciate your feedback, so thank you for your comments.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your swift reply to the issues that I have raised.

I just hope that we will get subtitles on all films on film4 sooner than later

Thanks once again