Background
Current Captioning Rates
During the 2004–05 fiscal year, Télévision de Radio-Canada captioned 91% of its programs, and RDI, 52%.
When the Corporation last renewed its licences in 2000, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) indicated that it expected the TV network to achieve 90% captioning, and RDI, 56%, by the time their respective licences expired in August 2007. The Corporation achieved this rate two years early. RDI expected to reach the CRTC's target rate by 2007.
Captioning Methods at Radio-Canada
Captioning is done in either of two ways, depending on whether the program is live or prerecorded.
For prerecorded programs, captions can be displayed in a clear manner—by positioning them on the screen near the person speaking, for example—and errors can be corrected. Captioners perform this task using standard computers and keyboards.
Radio-Canada uses computer-assisted stenotypy to caption live programs. Modelled on the method used for English-language captioning, the stenotypy system is used to simultaneously caption TV programs. Stenotypy was first developed in English-speaking markets, because the language system is simpler. The complexity of the French language complicates phonetic transcription, and this delayed the development of French technology.
Stenotypists use this procedure to transcribe sounds in real time using phonetic codes, which are automatically translated into on-screen text by computer. In 1992, Radio-Canada developed the Médiatex system in partnership with the French firm Grandjean and IBM France.
Thanks to Médiatex, Radio-Canada has developed unique expertise in real-time captioning. To our knowledge, Radio-Canada is the only French-language TV station in the world that captions all its news programs, including live inserts.
Today, Radio-Canada and RDI caption nearly all their prerecorded programs. If Radio-Canada is to increase its overall captioning rate, RDI in particular must caption more of its live programming.
Radio-Canada and Live TV
Seventy-five percent of RDI programming is live. From Monday to Friday, 5 a.m. to midnight, live programs constitute 85% of its schedule.
During the regular 2004–05 season, 40% of Radio-Canada's Monday to Friday programming was live.
Both the main network's and RDI's live programming pursues very specific objectives.
For the main network, the objective is to offer lifestyle magazines on subjects of particular concern to the public (health, culture, community life, ecology, consumerism, etc.), in direct relation to current affairs, and featuring interaction with the public (by fax, phone, email, voicemail).
Live broadcasting is the core mission of the all-news channel RDI, which broadcasts events live 24/7 as they happen, in Canada and around the world.
RDI Funding
Radio-Canada’s Réseau de l’information is operated by CBC/Radio-Canada under a CRTC licence. RDI's revenues are fully reinvested in its programming and operations. It is funded by subscriptions and advertising revenues. Its licence requires RDI to keep its own books, separately from Télévision de Radio-Canada. The goal is to ensure that this specialty channel funded largely by subscriptions is not financially supported by Radio-Canada's parliamentary appropriations, i.e., taxpayer money, to fund radio and TV over-the-air services.
RDI captioning stenotypists are paid from the specialty channel's own budgets.
Working Committee Recommendations
The working committee addressed two aspects of captioning at Radio-Canada: the lack of training in computer-assisted stenotypy, which accounts for the shortage of skilled staff; and the fact that Radio-Canada's real-time captioning system (Médiatex) is obsolete.
Training
Radio-Canada/La Cité collégiale Agreement
The Corporation uses stenotypists specializing in computer-assisted stenotypy to caption portions of its live schedule, and no training programs are currently available in French for this highly specialized work.
Since 2003, La Cité collégiale has offered a three-year computer-assisted stenotypy program, but has not received sufficient admission applications to start it up.
As a result, CBC/Radio-Canada and La Cité collégiale have decided to work together to introduce a program, which would turn out a sufficient number of strong applicants.
Broad terms of the agreement between CBC/Radio-Canada and La Cité collégiale:
La Cité collégiale
In September 2005, launch a full-time, fast-track program in computer-assisted stenotypy, with 12 months of study, including a paid internship.
CBC/Radio-Canada
Produce a 30-second TV spot based on a concept and copy developed by La Cité collégiale, promoting the program and providing information on the stenotypy profession and job opportunities.
Broadcast the spot on the network and RDI, with more targeted broadcasting on the regional stations CBOFT (Ontario/Gatineau), CBVT (Quebec City and Eastern Quebec) and CBAFT (Atlantic Canada).
Take part in La Cité collégiale's information night on March 30, 2005, and give a closed-circuit demonstration of real-time captioning as a program airs.
Offer students from La Cité collégiale's computer-assisted stenotypy program paid internships at its Montreal production centre and hire those whose performance and skills meet the Corporation's needs.
Take part in other promotional activities to support the program (press conferences, posters, raising awareness among its programmers and chief editors, etc.).
La Cité collégiale and CBC/Radio-Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding (see appendix) to put the agreement into effect. Radio-Canada representatives took part in La Cité collégiale's information night, and the Radio-Canada program 37.5 broadcast a report and interview on stenotypy, the labour shortage, and the new training program at La Cité collégiale.
For the La Cité collégiale training program to start in September 2005, there must be a minimum of 15 admissions. If this minimum level is not reached and the program is not offered in the 2005–06 school year, the action plan schedule will be pushed back one year and representatives of CBC/Radio-Canada and La Cité collégiale will work together to implement a new marketing plan.
Replacement of Médiatex
The real-time captioning system developed and used by Radio-Canada continues to meet the Corporation's needs, but must be replaced. The platform must be updated to improve signal transmission, considerably increase the capacity of the dictionary available to stenotypists, and configure the system for networked use.
The replacement cost has been incorporated into the Corporation's capital plan for fiscal 2005–06.
The Corporation's Broadcast Engineering unit is currently analyzing the information it received further to a request for information on systems suitable for replacing Médiatex.
Using this information, the Corporation will issue a call for tenders with a list of specific technical and operational criteria. The cost will be a priority criterion, but the system selected must also enable the Corporation to increase the quantity and quality of its real-time captioning, make signal transmission faster and more reliable, and improve overall system flexibility.
The new system is to be in place by January 2006.1
Voice Recognition
Radio-Canada's captioning unit has been using Dragon Naturally Speaking since 2002. The software is currently used for offline captioning only, because it is too slow for live broadcasts.
In stenotypy, voice recognition has the benefit of not requiring lengthy, specialized training. However, developing the profiles of voicewriters (the intermediaries between speech and onscreen transcription) is a long process.
To our knowledge, voice recognition technology is not sufficiently advanced to provide the level of quality needed for real-time captioning. It will likely take another few years to get there. In the meantime, Radio-Canada will continue to focus on stenotypy, while keeping a very close eye on technological advances.
1. Note: Regardless of which system is selected, the interfaces currently in use are compatible with multiple stenotypy keyboards. This is an important detail, since Radio-Canada stenotypists now use the Grandjean keyboard, while those trained at La Cité collégiale will use the Stenograph keyboard.