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Anonymous User
Not applicable

Subtitles/closed captions not working properly

The subtitles on NowTV have never been great, but after a recent update of the NowTV Player they're absolutely awful.

 

They'll show a single line of speech frozen on the screen for 5 minutes, before showing another single line and cutting out again. Obviously this is just as useless as no subtitles at all - and from a quick scan of the forums I'm not the only person experiencing issues with rubbish captioning.

 

If NowTV is actively trying to drive away its deaf and hard of hearing customers, it's going the right way about it.

91 REPLIES 91
Anonymous User
Not applicable

Subs on my TV work ok but only half the time. Watch a box set, turn on subtitles, they work ok for a couple of episodes then disappear, for a couple and suddenly reappear at random. 

I have to turn them on every time I start a new program.  Why not have a subtitles on all the time feature?

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Subtitles are terrible. Missing sentences, missed words. Not remotely up to standard with Netflix and other providers. 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Subtitles are completely broken.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

The subtitles on Now TV are the worst I've ever come across. Some bad grammar - 'might of' instead of the correct 'might've/might have. And subtitling completely different words to what are being spoken! One example is a character in a show says "right gents". The subtitles show it as having been said as "right jets". Get it sorted! I feel for deaf people who may be missing out on some great TV because of this! 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I saw there was a new update to the Now TV player when I loaded it today and I had a moment of hope that they had fixed the problem with subtitles.  Wasn't to be.  It's unbelievable that they haven't fixed this problem.  Completely smacks of not giving a damn about deaf people and those that use subtitles for other reasons.  Worked absolutely fine until 2 updates back.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Totally agree!  I use subtitles as an additional help as although I have some hearing, it is great for keeping track of the dialogue if I've maybe missed something.

 

I have to say, subtitles on NowTV are the worst I've EVER come across and they've got even more terrible in the last few months.  They rarely keep up with what's on screen, they stick, disappear or appear in the wrong order!  When they do actually turn up to the party, they are usually laid out in totally confusing ways, that 9 times out of 10 have multiple lines of dialogue on the screen at once spoken by different characters.

The BBC publishes it's subtitle guidelines on it's website and I know Sky has guidelines that are in use - so it's not like there aren't any templates to follow.  And as for getting them to just work, if the BBC, Netflix, Amazon and all the rest can get them working surely NowTV can.  

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I concur with previous descriptions of fault.

 

April 2020.

Tried on Android tablet and Windows PC - both showing the same fault, on several titles sampled.

 

Being of limited hearing and given the muble-y-ness of many soundtracks I absolutely need subtitles to enjoy much content. Netflix and others manage it so why not NowTV and especially considering who is behind the service ?

 

I WILL CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION IF THIS IS NOT RESOLVED.

 

I also notice, to my dismay, the number of ( modern ! ) titles which do not have any subs at all. Disappointingly this includes, Project Blue Book and the English language element of War of the Worlds ( Gabriel Byrne ).

 

A standard current notice states that during the Covid-19 emergency there is limited customer service, which I presume principally means in terms of their ability to engage with the customer, but I doubt this means they are not reading. 

 

Read this : Nowtv MUST sort this out or they'll lose this customer.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

To follow up what I said above, I must say, I doubt there will be any answer given to this at all, let alone an actual solution. Observing how long this issue has generated complaints I have little faith in the management to deal with it.

 

If I may offer a solution, which may suit some or not others ...........

 

There is believe it or not , still a bluray/dvd physical rental by post service still standing and that is Cinema Paradisio. You'll get the full subtitle service on physical discs and also by the way if you're into the hifi home cinema experience, the full sound files too !

 

Cinema Paradisio have always been known for their interesting and also international range of titles, which kind of figures that they would be ' last man standing ' in this now marginal part of the business. I'm glad of them still existing and I've been meaning to subscribe to them for ages. I used to use Lovefilm and various others prior in years gone by but like most others have switched to streaming because of the convenience of streaming and also the disappearance of physical rentals , despite problems like we are discussing here and despite what in truth is an inferior picture and sound quality that you get from streaming. 

 

I've taken a decison.

 

I'm not putting any faith in NowTV management to deal with this issue and I've just decided to cancel straight away. I get a sense of this from the time people have been complaining about this and the lack of any phone number to ring. Utterly sad. Netflix do it so much better and are communicative, for the same money. Note that please, NowTV

 

I'm signing up for Cinema Paradisio !  For all the hassle of having to drop discs into a post box, the benefits are so worth it.

 

There you go folks, there's your solution. 

 

Cinema Paradiso physical discs plus Netflix on and off as you see fit ( they make it easy to lapse and will hold your data and settings for 10 months ). I think these two services are the ideal combination.

 

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable
Another cancellation here, I'm no longer willing to support such a shoddy
service, which seems to think ignoring thousands of hearing-impaired people
is acceptable.
Anonymous User
Not applicable

Here here !

 

And I also want to know, what they are doing for wearers of false teeth ?