11/2/11: FCC Wants Closed Captions around God

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If a church broadcasts the word of God on TV without closed captions, it risks incurring the wrath of the FCC.

Some 300 small- to medium-sized churches can expect letters from the commission within the next few days explaining why their closed captioning exemptions were lifted for TV shows like “Power in the Word” and “Producing Kingdom Citizens.”

The FCC has been mailing the letters for the past few days to churches from Maine to California, explaining that the hundreds of exemptions are now rescinded and giving the programmers 90 days to reapply.

Craig Parshall, of the National Religious Broadcasters, said “This was a process that went awry. Now, we are going back to Square One.” Parshall also said that while the commission’s decision isn’t directed at religious organizations in particular.