The regulator was left ‘concerned’ after an incident at a centre run by Red Bee Media caused ‘significant disruption to several broadcasters’ operations, including their access services,’ with Channel 4 being particularly badly hit.
The outage began on September 25 and was not fully resolved until November 19.
The regulator confirmed that the broadcaster was still able to to meet a statutory requirement to subtitle 90% of its programme hours over 2021.
However, it caused Channel 4 to fall short of its subtitling quota on Freesat, a satellite TV platform used by around two million UK homes.
Ofcom is now investigating ‘Channel 4’s under-provision of subtitles on the Freesat platform and the surrounding circumstances.’
Kevin Bakhurst, Ofcom’s Group Director for Broadcasting, said: ‘These problems caused deep upset and frustration among the millions of people who rely on subtitles, signing or audio description to enjoy TV.
‘Channel 4 took several weeks to provide a clear, public plan and timeline for fixing the problems.
‘As well as investigating Channel 4, we’re reviewing the wider effects of the outage to make sure broadcasters learn lessons and protect access services in future.’
Channel 4 said during the outage that they were doing everything they could to get subtitles back up and running.
In a statement released last year, Channel 4 explained how ‘on Saturday 25 September, the fire suppression system was triggered at Red Bee Media’s broadcast centre (the company handles playout services and broadcasting technology for a number of channels), which transmits all Channel 4’s services’.
As a result, a variety of systems and hardware was severely damaged, and while the emergency backup systems were immediately activated, they are still encountering ‘significant problems’ with providing access service for programmes broadcast since the incident.
‘We know that this is incredibly frustrating for you and your families who rely on these services to watch your favourite programmes,’ Channel 4 said in the statement.
The broadcaster also confirmed that while engineers were working around the clock to find out what went wrong and how they can fix it, ‘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’.
‘Unfortunately, at the moment we cannot provide audio description or sign language services at all,’ they continued.
They added: ‘Clearly, if we can do anything to speed up this process, we will. We know that this will be incredibly disappointing to everyone, but we do need to get this right.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Channel 4 and Red Bee Media for comment.
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What is Ofcom and what does it cover?
Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day.
The watchdog makes sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio.
Ofcom deals with most content on television, radio and video-on-demand services, including the BBC. However, if your complaint is about something you saw or heard in a BBC programme, you may need to complain to the BBC first.
Its rules for television and radio programmes are set out in the Broadcasting Code.
The rules in the Broadcasting Code also apply to the BBC iPlayer.
This Broadcasting Code is the rule book that broadcasters have to follow and it covers a number of areas, including; protecting the under-18s, protecting audiences from harmful and/or offensive material and ensuring that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality.
Audiences can complain to Ofcom if they believe a breach of the Broadcasting Code has been made.
Every time Ofcom receives a complaint from a viewer or listener, they assess it to see if it needs further investigation.
If Ofcom decide to investigate, they will include the case in a list of new investigations, published in the Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin.
An investigation is a formal process which can take some time depending on the complexity of the issues involved.
Ofcom can also launch investigations in the absence of a complaint from a viewer or listener.
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