For captioning companies · US public television

Your captions, checked against the final master.

You deliver the caption file; someone else builds the master. In between is where captions get rejected — a timecode that doesn’t line up, a re-edit after you delivered, a lower third laid over a caption, an embed that lost the 608 bytes. I check your file against the master that actually goes to the distributor, and write down what I find: dated, independent, item by item.

Send one file — the first file check is free See a sample report (PDF)

Report in two business days. Your client’s material is handled in confidence — NDA on request.

Why the master matters

Accuracy is your craft. The master decides the rest.

The FCC judges captions on four things. Two depend on the words you write. The other two can only be judged against the final picture and sound — which you rarely get to see.

Your craft

Accuracy

The words match what is said.

Not graded — the report says so.

Your craft

Completeness

Nothing left out, from the first word to the last.

Not graded.

Checked

Synchronicity

On screen with the voice — within ±1 second for NETA.

Against the final soundtrack.

Checked

Placement

Clear of name keys, on-screen text, faces and action.

Against the final picture.

Timecode. The file was timed on a proxy with a different start timecode or drop-frame flag, and every caption is off by the same amount.
A re-edit after you delivered. The cut changed; the captions drift from the edit point on.
Running time. Captions run past the end of the programme, or the last minutes have none.
Graphics added later. A name key or on-screen text went in after you captioned — and now sits under a caption.
The embed. The master carries 708 without the 608 bytes NETA requires, or the insert shifted — and the rejection comes back to you.

Caption checks

Two levels. Prices per programme.

Quoted in USD. No retainer, no minimum — start with one file and read the report.

Start here

Caption file check

The file on its own, against CEA-608 and the distributor’s caption rules.

What you sendThe .scc and the video it belongs to — a proxy is fine if it has the same name, start timecode and running time.

$50 per file

$35 each from 10 files a month

The first one is free — one per captioning company

32 columns and odd parity (CEA-608)
File name and start timecode match the video (NETA 2025)
1–3 rows on screen; every caption inside the programme
Display time, gaps and reading speed, as reference
Every caption to fix, listed by timecode

Not at this level: timing against the voice and placement on the picture.

Send a file

Most useful

Checked against the final master

The file check, plus the two things only the final master can answer.

What you sendYour .scc and the final master — or a frame-accurate export of it, with the final graphics.

$150 per programme

The file check + timing and placement

Everything in the file check
Timing against the final soundtrack — within ±1 second (NETA 2025)
Placement on the final picture — name keys, on-screen text, faces, action
Embedded captions decoded from the master and put through the same checks, 608 included
Every caption to move or retime, by timecode

Send a programme

Ongoing

Monthly checks

For a steady flow of programmes to public television.

By volume

Either level, a set number a month

The same measurements, the same desk, every time
Every report dated and numbered — an independent record of your quality checks
One invoice a month

Talk it through

What the report is not. It does not grade your transcription: accuracy and completeness stay with whoever authored the captions, and the report says so. It is not a distributor’s approval either — each distributor runs its own QC. It is where the file stands against the published requirements, and what each fix takes. Programmes longer than 30 minutes are quoted by duration.