[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 72 (Friday, April 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 20147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-07882]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[MB Docket No. 11-43; DA 21-281; FRS ID 20962]


Audio Description: Nonbroadcast Networks

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: FCC announces the top five national nonbroadcast networks 
subject to the Commission's audio description requirements.

DATES: The updated list of the top five national nonbroadcast networks 
subject to the Commission's audio description requirements is effective 
July 1, 2021.

ADDRESSES: The full text of this public notice is available 
electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe Acrobat via ECFS 
and at https://www.fcc.gov/document/media-bureau-grants-requests-audio-description-exemption. Alternative formats are available for people 
with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio 
format), by sending an email to [email protected] or calling the 
Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 
(voice).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact 
Michael Scurato (202-418-2083; [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Media Bureau's 
Public Notice, DA 21-281, released on March 8, 2021. Audio description 
makes video programming accessible to individuals who are blind or 
visually impaired through ``[t]he insertion of audio narrated 
descriptions of a television program's key visual elements into natural 
pauses between the program's dialogue.'' The Commission's audio 
description rules require multichannel video programming distributor 
(MVPD) systems that serve 50,000 or more subscribers to provide 87.5 
hours of audio description per calendar quarter on channels carrying 
each of the top five national nonbroadcast networks. The top five 
national nonbroadcast networks are defined by an average of the 
national audience share during prime time among nonbroadcast networks 
that reach 50 percent or more of MVPD households and have at least 50 
hours per quarter of prime time programming that is not live or near-
live or otherwise exempt under the audio description rules.
    The rules provide that the list of top five nonbroadcast networks 
will update at three-year intervals to account for changes in ratings, 
and that the third triennial update will occur on July 1, 2021, based 
on the 2019 to 2020 ratings year. In anticipation of this update, the 
Media Bureau issued a Public Notice on November 2, 2020 announcing the 
top ten nonbroadcast networks for the 2019 to 2020 ratings year 
according to data provided by the Nielsen Company: Fox News, MSNBC, 
CNN, ESPN, TLC, HGTV, Hallmark, History, TBS, and Discovery. The Public 
Notice indicated that a program network could seek an exemption no 
later than 30 days after publication of the Public Notice, if it 
believed it should be excluded from the list of top five networks 
covered by the audio description rules because it does not air at least 
50 hours of prime time programming per quarter that is not live or 
near-live or is otherwise exempt. Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, and ESPN filed 
timely requests for exemption from the list of top five nonbroadcast 
networks.
    In an Order adopted concurrently with this Public Notice, the 
Bureau found that Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, and ESPN provide on average 
less than 50 hours per calendar quarter of prime time programming that 
is not live or near-live. The Bureau, therefore, exempted these four 
networks from the Commission's audio description requirements 
applicable to the top five national nonbroadcast networks. In making 
its determination, the Bureau reviewed data pertaining to the six most 
recent calendar quarters submitted by each network and sample 
programming schedules. The Bureau also considered additional 
information each individual network submitted to support or explain 
aspects of each request, when available.
    Thus, as a result of the exemptions granted to Fox News, MSNBC, 
CNN, and ESPN and a review of Nielsen ratings for the 2019 to 2020 
ratings year, the top five nonbroadcast networks that will be subject 
to the audio description requirements as of July 1, 2021 are: TLC, 
HGTV, Hallmark, History, and TBS. MVPD systems that serve 50,000 or 
more subscribers must provide 87.5 hours of audio description per 
calendar quarter on channels carrying each of these networks during the 
triennial period beginning on July 1, 2021.

Federal Communications Commission.
Thomas Horan,
Chief of Staff, Media Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2021-07882 Filed 4-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P