Subtitles and closed captioning are an important part of programming options, and a new survey shared by preply.com has revealed how surprisingly important it is to younger generations.
The results of this new study have shown that 70% of Gen Z respondents say they use subtitles all or part of the time whilst viewing film and TV content, followed by 53% of millennials, 38% of Gen X, and 35% of baby boomers.
The main reason for their use? 72% of respondents put the reason down to muddled audio, be it from either a poor audio mix at the source or issues with streaming quality and/or playback equipment.
Other reasons include difficulty with accents and/or slang, trying to watch TV in a quiet environment (i.e. not wake up kids/roommates), to help stay focused on the screen, or to help learn a new language.
One possible reason for so much use of subtitles by younger viewers? Watching in public via phone/tablet, with 57% of respondents saying they watch content on mobile and 74% of those respondents being Gen Z.
As it was a U.S.-based survey, it seems non-U.S. accents are a challenge. Tom Hardy topped the list of actors most difficult to understand and requiring subtitles. In addition, the acclaimed British series in which Hardy recurs, “Peaky Blinders,” topped the list of the most difficult show to understand.
Sofia Vergara, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sean Connery, Johnny Depp, and Jackie Chan were cited as actors difficult to understand, whilst “Derry Girls,” “Game of Thrones,” “Outlander”, and “Downton Abbey” topped the list of shows. Scottish was cited as the most difficult accent to understand.
In a bit of great news from the survey, as much as 74% of U.S. audiences say they prefer to watch foreign language shows in their original languages (with subtitles), such as “Squid Game”, whilst only 26% prefer to watch the English dubs. This partly explains the recent boom in foreign-language series as younger audiences are seemingly more open to content in other languages.
Despite their extensive use, only 32% of respondents think that subtitles should be the default for streaming and cable, while only 26% think it should be the default for movie theaters.
Creative subtitle and captioning work are also being shared and celebrated in social media circles, with memes and screenshots spreading when those who make them get particularly creative. The most recent season of “Stranger Things” saw its extensive use of synonyms for ‘moist’ and ‘squelch’ in the captions being the subject of much talk in recent weeks.
A separate report at The Telegraph suggests another reason is the rise of second screen usage. A respondent says: “The main reason they do it is so they can flick their eyes up and read ahead, then take in the whole scene quickly, and look back down at their phone, or whatever second screen they have. It’s kind of stupid, but everyone does it.”
The growth in demand for what has been a long-undervalued industry has gotten so high that service providers in the subtitles, captions and dubbing sectors are reportedly struggling to cope. In fact, diplomatic translation services are experiencing a shortage of linguists as translators are being lured to television.
