LOVEFILM needs to open its ears to subtitles for the deaf

lovefilm_subtitles

A 10,000-strong change.org petition, backed by the UK’s largest deaf charity and TV stars and writers, is calling on LOVEFiLM to provide subtitles for viewers with hearing loss.

Currently, deaf customers of LOVEFiLM are not aware if will receive the latest movies or hit shows with subtitles until they arrive, something that can be extremely frustrating especially during Christmas.

According to Ofcom, 67% of people with hearing loss say that TV is important to them, rising to 74% of people who are severely deaf. People with hearing loss watch TV for an average of 4.3 hours a day, compared with average viewing across the UK of 3.46 hours a day.

The change.org petition is urging the distributor to offer subtitles for their On-Demand and postal service, and information on subtitle availability on films and boxsets before payment.

Stephanie McDermid, who is deaf, said: I wish they would make it clear at the outset whether content is subtitled or not. They should, like Netflix consider the 10 million people in the UK with hearing loss. Despite numerous correspondence flagging this issue, LOVEFiLM refuses to engage and I am urging people to sign the petition, which will hopefully force a response.’

Little Grey Cells #7… Audiences want things faster. A one-way communication broadcast doesn’t deliver on that

Simon Gunning is Global Head of Digital Media and Technology at advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH). We catch up with him, taking a good look into his Little Grey Cells…

When did you first get into tech?

I worked in the record business for long time, managing record producers and artists, and it was clear that it was an industry that was getting into trouble. At the same time, billions of pounds were spent trying to prevent the Y2K disaster, and the dot com bubble was growing. So I went to work for a company called Flextech television, which became Virgin Media television.

Quite extraordinarily I was appointed head of business development, and my job included setting up web sites for the four biggest channels in pay TV at the time. I had to set up their presence online, in mobile telephony and red button interactivity, which was seen to be the future of the world as we then knew it. Continue reading

Little Grey Cells #3… It’s time for an end of the TV-versus-internet argument

* Tess Alps is the CEO of Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial TV, and avid campaigner for the end of the TV-versus-Internet argument. She spares a few moments to engage with her Little Grey Cells

I like lots of media other than TV
Yes, both as a consumer and as a marketing professional. But I do this job because I have a strong sense of injustice; no medium is more undervalued or misrepresented than TV. It’s a mission.

TV, not the TV
That’s what I represent and care about. The cultural importance of that professionally produced content can’t be overstated and it needs serious money to maintain the quality and range we currently enjoy. I couldn’t care less what technology delivers it or what screen you watch it on. Continue reading

Little Grey Cells #3… It’s time for an end of the TV-versus-internet argument

* Tess Alps is the CEO of Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial TV, and avid campaigner for the end of the TV-versus-Internet argument. She spares a few moments to engage with her Little Grey Cells

I like lots of media other than TV
Yes, both as a consumer and as a marketing professional. But I do this job because I have a strong sense of injustice; no medium is more undervalued or misrepresented than TV. It’s a mission.

TV, not the TV
That’s what I represent and care about. The cultural importance of that professionally produced content can’t be overstated and it needs serious money to maintain the quality and range we currently enjoy. I couldn’t care less what technology delivers it or what screen you watch it on. Continue reading

Spending too much time in front of a screen?… go to a Cat Cafe in Tokyo

It’s February, the weather is sh*t, the media bombards us with stories about certain days being the most depressing of the year and mobiles, laptops, iPads, cinemas and TVs drag us into their screens of otherworldliness.

The evenings are long, there are no spontaneous outdoor activities and if it wasn’t for sex we’d all go bonkers. At some stage we crack, leave our devices at home and head for the hills for a good walk or fly to a beach to wean us from these awful habits that ruin our eyes and bathe us in blue screen. Continue reading