Channel 4 subtitles won’t run until November

Channel 4 subtitles won’t run until November

Channel 4 subtitles, signing and audio description are unlikely to return to TV until mid-November, after a catastrophic fault knocked broadcast services offline in September.

The missing services have angered d/Deaf and visually impaired viewers. Ofcom has received over 500 complaints.

Channel 4 is building a new system from scratch, which it says will fix the problem more quickly than its current prediction of mid-November.

The broadcaster said: “Channel 4 would like to apologise to viewers for not currently being able to provide access services. We realise how frustrating this is for our viewers."

Some shows will have subtitles on catch up service All4 from this week. But there is currently no scope for audio description or sign language services. "These services were irretrievably lost during the incident and we won't be able to restore them until we move to the new system we are building,” Channel 4 said. “Clearly, if we can do anything to speed up this process, we will."