A unique study for Voice of The Listener, funded by Widex, finds 53% of over 65s have trouble hearing what is being said on TV and have pinpointed why.
Lack of speech intelligibility on TV programs, especially for the over 65s and those with a hearing impairment, is a growing problem. This research has thrown up some surprising causes and led to a BBC initiative to resolve it.
The key findings were as follows:
- 45% of programs watched by those with poor or very poor hearing gave them spoken word problems
- 53% of over 65s could not hear speech in 22 identified problem programs
- 29% of programs posed speech audibility problems to 10% of over 65s52% of respondents said that background music “reduced their enjoyment”
The study sample was made of 8500 over 65s, who completed a TV diary that asked detailed questions about their viewing. The results were then analyzed and 22 problem programs were identified with which a significant number of the viewers had issues.
Recordings of these programs were subjected to rigorous sound testing. It was found that background music was indeed a contributing factor, but poor recording and sub standard artist dialog levels negatively affected a greater proportion of programs.
Six programs had added music that masked the voice of the presenter or actor. A further six had poor microphone placement recording indistinct dialog. Seven programs had artists whose vocal performance was at too low a level to be recorded adequately by the microphone.
To its credit, the BBC has responded quickly, it has launched an industry wide training initiative through the BBC Academy. A series of training modules based on the findings are being made available to the whole broadcasting industry. They will also be used in college courses including the National Film and TV School.
Acknowledgements:
Dick Bates, Peter Meneer and David Walker (all former BBC executives) initiated this programme
GFK NOP was both the research company for the BBC Pulse Online panel and the supplementary VLV paper diary project among the over 65s
Louise Wilcox MIBS (Partner DWS Associates volunteered her services to analyze the programs.
Story first Published in Listen, The World of Widex, issue 03, 2011
| Share this post : |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
No comments:
Post a Comment