On October 17, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC
or Commission) unanimously adopted a Second Report and Order (Order) that will
expand the Commission’s audio description mandate to television
stations in all Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMAs) by 2035.
Under the FCC’s new rule, stations in certain markets are
required to provide audio-described programming as soon as January
1, 2025.

We have provided additional detail on the Order below.

Background

Audio description benefits persons who are blind or visually
impaired by inserting narration for non-dialogue scenes during
natural pauses in a program’s dialogue. Television stations
subject to the audio description requirement must provide 50 hours
of audio-described programming per calendar quarter during prime
time or children’s programming, in addition to 37.5 hours per
calendar quarter between 6:00 a.m. and 11:59 a.m. local time.

The FCC originally applied its audio description requirements to
stations in the top 60 DMAs. In 2020, the Commission adopted a
phased expansion of these rules that extended (and will continue to
extend) audio description requirements to 10 additional markets
each year from 2021 through 2024.

In March 2023, the FCC proposed to continue expanding its audio description requirements
to the remaining DMAs.

The requirement only applies to stations that are affiliated
with one of the top four commercial television broadcast networks
(ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC). Network affiliates in all DMAs are
required to pass through the audio description they receive via a
network feed.

Expanding Audio Description to All DMAs

In the Order, the FCC adopted its March 2023 proposal to phase
in the audio description requirements to all 210 DMAs by 2035.
Specifically, the FCC will expand the requirement to DMAs 101
through 110 on January 1, 2025, and will continue with 10
additional DMAs annually until January 1, 2035.

While the Commission’s audio description rules currently
utilize Nielsen’s January 1, 2020, DMA rankings, the FCC will
base its extension to additional DMAs on Nielsen’s DMA rankings
as of January 1, 2023. This will push back the deadline for the
Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg and Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa
City-Dubuque DMAs while accelerating the deadline for the
Chattanooga and Charleston DMAs given the respective changes in
their market ranks.

In expanding the mandate, the FCC determined that the costs of
audio description for smaller markets are reasonable based on
broadcasters’ existing infrastructure and equipment.
Ultimately, the FCC reasoned that expanding the audio description
mandate would not only benefit blind or visually impaired
consumers, but also consumers with sensory or cognitive impairments
or language barriers, or consumers who listen to video programming
while multitasking. To address concerns regarding economic burdens
or other challenges, the FCC affirmed that broadcasters and MVPDs
can use existing exemption and waiver procedures for relief.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.