Local Captioning Company Hears the Cry - Responds With National Impact

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. -- Caption Colorado, America's News Service for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Viewers, celebrated the year 2000-2001 by doubling the number of customers it serves and the amount of hours it captions across America.

A local company with national influence and exposure, Caption Colorado has earned its reputation as the largest real-time captioning company in the United States.

"It's encouraging to know we have a major influence in the Denver media market, but it's warming to know that we touch the lives of so many television households and communities nationwide," said Tad Polumbus, president of Caption Colorado. Denver's KCNC (channel 4) and KUSA (channel 9) both take advantage of Caption Colorado's services for daily newscasts.

Real-time captioning is the process of captioning live news feed for live broadcast, and Caption Colorado receives excellent ratings from its Quality Assurance Program.

"The captioners are very proactive in troubleshooting problems, and the management team is always available for questions," said Brian Plumb, operations supervisor at KXTV, Sacramento, CA.

"Caption Colorado is enthusiastic about providing better service to our deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences across the country. Having reporters in all time zones enables us to provide around-the-clock emergency service for all of our stations, as was the case during the attack on America in September," said Patty White, vice president of operations.

Caption Colorado began in 1991 with three captioners serving its first contract, KCNC, then Denver's NBC affiliate. Caption Colorado now provides real-time closed captioning for approximately 80 stations located in 40 markets in over 30 states. The company employs over 80 captioners who work remotely from their home offices.

"Without their day-to-day diligence and dedication, I would not be able to enter a world that most people take for granted," praised Judy Oliver, a deaf viewer in the Cleveland, OH, market. "Millions of us rely on their every key stroke."

Caption Colorado has expanded its product line beyond real-time captioning. The company hired Mike Lyons, offline-captioning expert with over 10 years of experience, and now provides offline services for several major media groups like Starz/Encore, the Discovery Channel and the National Geographic Channel.

The company plans to launch its newly developed captioning software and hopes to incorporate its captioning services in web streaming video.

Providers of real-time and offline services, Greenwood Village-based Caption Colorado is the nation's largest provider of real-time closed captioning to local and national markets. With network partners such as Gannett Broadcasting, Tribune, ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX simulcasting the closed captioning, their captioners boast a 98.5% accuracy rating. For more information visit www.captioncolorado.com.