Mr Barry Tebbs
By email: Barry Tebbs [[FOI #929 email]]
25 July 2008
Dear Mr Tebbs
Freedom of information request – RFI20080694
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the ”Act”) dated 27 June
2008. The reference number for your request is RFI20080694.
You requested:
“What is the total expenditure into the research and development of visual subtitling on Internet provided
Video information and programs”
In answer to your request, there are two broad processes involved in providing visual subtitling on
bbc.co.uk: subtitling programme content and displaying the programmes with subtitles on the BBC
iPlayer.
The provision of subtitles for the BBC’s iPlayer system is predicated on the subtitle files being
produced for linear channels. No subtitles are produced specifically for BBC iPlayer. Where a subtitle
file exists for a programme transmitted on a BBC channel and the file is available in the timescales
required to be delivered with the media file used by the BBC iPlayer system this is done using an
automated system that converts the file and uses the programme identifier to match the file to the
media. Apart from a small amount of internal bandwidth within the delivery systems and a small
element of the quality assurance process that checks the presence of the correct file there have,
therefore, been no specific costs for the current subtitle preparation and delivery process in the last
twelve months to July 2008.
From the time of launch in December 2007, and to date, only those programmes available for capture
off tape pre-transmission and delivered to the transmission area in sufficient time to have pre-
prepared subtitles produced were technically deliverable. Red Bee Media is currently looking at ways
in which those programmes that are either live or delivered close to transmission can have the live
subtitles captured from the transmission stream and delivered in the same way as pre-delivered
content. The costs for improved workflow and delivery have already been funded. These are in the
region of £25,000. In addition, it is proposed to embed subtitles in the files delivered for the mediated
platforms and this requires the licensing of additional software in the transcoders to perform this task.
The cost for this element of the roadmap is estimated to be in the order of £40,000.
From January 2008 to date, the cost of the development of the BBC iPlayer to display subtitles is
£8,013.
We hope you find this information useful.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied with this response you have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior
manager or legal adviser. Please contact us at the address above, explaining what you would like us to
review and including your reference number. If you are not satisfied with the internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner. The contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, telephone 01625 545 700 or see
http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Yours sincerely
L. Stiller
Legal and Business Affairs Manager
Future Media & Technology
