The challenge
USAGM's mission is to reach audiences worldwide in their own languages. That takes content built for each region — produced in the first place, then captioned so a viewer can follow a program in a language other than the one it was recorded in, accurately and in the languages each region actually uses.
It also meant knowing how the content was landing across regions rather than guessing, and feeding that back into what got made next.
The solution
DCLS produced multimedia content — video and audio — for USAGM's regional audiences, then captioned more than 10 hours of video across five-plus languages, matching caption timing and phrasing to each program so the meaning held for viewers watching in their own language.
Alongside the production and captioning, DCLS ran structured audience research — both qualitative and quantitative — into how content performed across regions and how global developments were shifting the picture. The three ran together, not as separate tracks, so research findings shaped what got produced and captioned next.
The results
- Multimedia content — video and audio — produced for USAGM's regional audiences.
- More than 10 hours of video captioned across five-plus languages for those audiences.
- Qualitative and quantitative audience research run alongside production and captioning, feeding directly into content decisions.
- Production, language delivery, and the audience insight behind them from one partner, on one timeline.
