# Is broadcast TV closed captioned?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-broadcast-tv-closed-captioned/341930>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 28, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-broadcast-tv-closed-captioned/341930 "2006-01-28T00:28:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-broadcast-tv-closed-captioned/341930/1 "2006-01-28T00:28:04Z")

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As some of you know my blind date for Valentine’s Day, KD, never went home. Things are good, we are extremely compatible with a few exceptions. KD has very acute hearing and I am literally deaf in one ear. When I lived alone, I developed a habit of blasting the television after all my nearest neighbor is a mile away, who would care? Well KD cares and I have made concessions, some. Recently I tried the closed caption feature on DVD’s. It’s great, I can hear most of the dialogue and read the rest. This works really good. I can set the TV sound lower. I was wondering, are broadcast television shows closed captioned? And if so how could I see the captions? Is there something that I can buy? The instructions for the TV are no longer around and I can’t find a setting. Please note I live in the sticks and don’t get cable and won’t install a dish, there is too much TV available for free. Does anyone know any thing about this, is broadcast television closed captioned in the USA?

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**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-broadcast-tv-closed-captioned/341930/2 "2006-01-28T00:34:40Z")

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Most shows are CC. If you can bring up the menu on your TV, you can see if it has the CC option.

If not, standalone decoders are available.

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**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-broadcast-tv-closed-captioned/341930/3 "2006-01-28T00:39:58Z")

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[Closed captioning FAQ](http://www.robson.org/capfaq/)