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BBC Captioning History

Some of the important years when the BBC made advances in captioning.


  • 1979 - A documentary is the first program to be subtitled on the BBC

  • 1986 - Blue Peter becomes the first live program to be subtitled on the BB

  • 1990 - The first live BBC broadcast is captioned by a stenographer

  • 1990 - The BBC begins subtitling its news

  • 2001 - Respeaking is used for subtitling for the first time by the BBC

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