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Final Regulatory Assessment and Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Final Rule - Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations - Movie Theaters; Movie Captioning and Audio Description

6. ALTERNATIVES

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) states that regulatory analyses should consider alternatives to the rule or regulation being evaluated.33  Thus, the Department considered alternatives regarding the length of time movie theaters would have to comply with the rulemaking, the number of captioning and audio description devices required at each venue type, and the impact to the cost estimation if the Department had decided not to defer application of the captioning and audio description requirements of this rulemaking to auditoriums exhibiting analog movies exclusively.

33 Office of Management and Budget, Circular A-4 (Sept. 17, 2003), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a004_a-4/ (last visited Sept. 12, 2016).

6.1. Compliance Date

In the primary analysis, movie theaters have 18 months to acquire and install the necessary equipment to provide closed movie captioning and audio description in their auditoriums.  The Department also considered other compliance dates, including a six-month and a two-year compliance date.   

In the cost estimation, the compliance date impacts the years in which movie theaters purchase the necessary equipment.  A shorter compliance date results in movie theaters purchasing equipment earlier, whereas a longer compliance date allows theaters more time to purchase the equipment.  Table 6-1 shows the impact of increasing the compliance date to two years instead of 18 months in the primary analysis.  Overall, the total costs decrease by $3.3 million to $85.2 million over the 15-year period of analysis when discounted at 7 percent.  This is a decrease of 4 percent compared to the cost estimation in the primary analysis.

Table 6-1 : Two-Year Compliance Date Alternative, Discounted at 7 Percent ($ millions)


Cost Category

2-Year Compliance Date Alternative

Primary Analysis

Percent Change

Captioning Hardware Acquisition Costs

$14.0

$14.6

-4%

Audio Hardware Acquisition Costs

$0.4

$0.5

-6%

Captioning Device Acquisition Costs

$15.1

$15.7

-4%

Audio Device Acquisition Costs

$2.4

$2.4

-3%

Installation Costs

$1.0

$1.0

-4%

Replacement Costs

$34.5

$36.1

-4%

Training Costs

$9.9

$9.9

0%

Maintenance and Administrative Costs

$7.8

$8.2

-5%

Total Costs

$85.2

$88.5

-4%

Table 6-2 shows the impact of changing the compliance date to six months instead of 18 months in the primary analysis.  Overall, the total costs increase by $5.6 million to $94.1 million over the 15-year period of analysis when discounted at 7 percent.  This is a 6 percent increase compared to the cost estimation in the primary analysis.  A compliance date of six months increases costs because all movie theaters would purchase equipment in one year (2016) instead of over two years (2016, 2017) in the primary analysis.

Table 6-2 : Six-Month Compliance Date Alternative, Discounted at 7 Percent ($ millions)


Cost Category

6-Month Compliance Date Alternative

Primary Analysis

Percent Change

Captioning Hardware Acquisition Costs

$15.5

$14.6

6%

Audio Hardware Acquisition Costs

$0.5

$0.5

9%

Captioning Device Acquisition Costs

$16.6

$15.7

6%

Audio Device Acquisition Costs

$2.6

$2.4

5%

Installation Costs

$1.1

$1.0

6%

Replacement Costs

$39.0

$36.1

8%

Training Costs

$9.9

$9.9

0%

Maintenance and Administrative Costs

$8.9

$8.2

8%

Total Costs

$94.1

$88.5

6%

The Department ultimately decided that an 18-month compliance date was the most appropriate choice.  The Department’s decision regarding the 18-month compliance date in the final rule is based on the Department’s independent research and the information provided in comments on the 2014 NPRM.  Based on this information, the Department determined that six months may be an insufficient amount of time for movie theaters to comply with the requirements of this rulemaking.  However, the Department believes that an 18-month compliance date sufficiently accounts for potential delays that may result from manufacturer backlogs, installation waitlists, and other circumstances outside a movie theater’s control.  One major movie theater chain in particular recommended an 18-month compliance date, stating that this is the amount of time that the process currently takes, and this compliance date also gives small movie theaters struggling financially as a result of the unrelated costs of digital conversion a sufficient amount of time to plan and budget accordingly.  The Department believes that a two-year compliance date is too long and will further delay important accessibility benefits to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, or blind or have low vision.

6.2. Scoping Requirements

In the 2014 NPRM, the Department proposed scoping requirements for captioning devices based on the number of seats in a movie theater.  The Department further proposed that movie theaters maintain one audio description device per auditorium, with a minimum of two devices per movie theater.  However, in light of the public comments received and proposals made by the movie industry and multiple disability advocacy groups, those scoping requirements have changed in the final rule.

Table 6-3 compares the scoping requirements used in the primary analysis with the previous scoping requirements proposed in the 2014 NPRM and used in the Initial RA.  As the table indicates, the scoping requirements in the final rule (and used in the primary analysis) require fewer captioning and audio description devices.

Table 6-3 : Device Scoping Requirements for Primary Analysis and Initial RA


Venue Type

Captioning Device Scoping
Primary Analysis

Captioning Device Scoping
Initial RA

Audio Description  Device Scoping
Primary Analysis

Audio Description Device Scoping
Initial RA

Megaplex

12

34

9

18

Multiplex

8

28

6

11

Miniplex

6

12

3

4

Single-Auditorium

4

4

2

2

As shown in Table 6-4, using the original scoping from the 2014 NPRM increases the captioning and audio description device acquisition costs.  The replacement costs also increase because more devices are replaced annually due to the higher number of devices required per movie theater.  Finally, the installation and maintenance and administrative costs increase as they are estimated relative to the equipment acquisition costs.  Overall, using the scoping requirements from the Initial RA increases the total costs by 75 percent to $154.8 million over the 15-year period of analysis when discounted at 7 percent.

Table 6-4 : Original Scoping Alternative, Discounted at 7 Percent ($ millions)


Cost Category

Initial RA Scoping Alternative

Primary Analysis

Percent Change

Captioning Hardware Acquisition Costs

$14.6

$14.6

0%

Audio Hardware Acquisition Costs

$0.5

$0.5

0%

Captioning Device Acquisition Costs

$36.1

$15.7

130%

Audio Device Acquisition Costs

$4.4

$2.4

80%

Installation Costs

$1.7

$1.0

67%

Replacement Costs

$73.8

$36.1

104%

Training Costs

$9.9

$9.9

0%

Maintenance and Administrative Costs

$13.9

$8.2

69%

Total Costs

$154.8

$88.5

75%

In the final rule, the Department implemented scoping requirements for captioning and audio description devices that it believes will obligate movie theaters to provide the optimum number of devices sufficient to provide accessibility to individuals with disabilities who will need and use them, without requiring movie theaters to purchase unnecessary equipment.  Because movie theaters are rarely at 100 percent occupancy, the Department determined that the number of seats within a movie theater is an inappropriate proxy for determining the number of captioning devices required.  Additionally, usage data indicates that audio description devices are used less frequently than the proposed scoping required.  As a result, the Department adopted lower scoping requirements for both captioning and audio description devices based on the number of auditoriums showing digital movies within a movie theater.  The scoping requirements for captioning devices are based on the proposed scoping suggested in the Joint Comment, submitted by NATO and multiple disability advocacy groups representing individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing.  The scoping requirements for audio description devices are based on the proposed scoping suggested by NATO and supported by movie theater usage data.

6.3. Auditoriums Exhibiting Analog Movies

The Department considered providing movie theaters with analog auditoriums (auditoriums equipped to exhibit analog movies exclusively) four years to comply with the rule’s requirements, as opposed to deferring the decision whether to engage in rulemaking with respect to such auditoriums (Section 1.4.1).  The longer compliance date was initially considered for auditoriums exhibiting analog movies exclusively because a large number of movie theaters were in the midst of transitioning to digital projection systems.  The Department reasoned that additional time might be necessary for some analog movie theaters to decide to convert to digital projection systems and then acquire compatible equipment to provide closed movie captioning and audio description.  In addition, the delayed compliance date would allow small movie theaters that remain analog more time to obtain the necessary resources to purchase the equipment to provide closed movie captioning and audio description. 

This section provides an estimate for the costs of this rule for analog movie theaters if the decision to cover analog auditoriums was not deferred.  The methodology for calculating the costs for auditoriums exhibiting analog movies is identical to that of auditoriums exhibiting digital movies.  However, there are several key assumptions that differ for analog auditoriums.

Number of Analog Auditoriums
Section 3.1.4 shows how the number of auditoriums exhibiting digital and analog movies is calculated.  As explained, industry research indicates that most auditoriums exhibiting analog movies are operated in smaller movie theaters.  Therefore, all auditoriums exhibiting analog movies exclusively are assumed to be in Miniplex and Single-Auditorium movie theaters.  Table 6-5 below shows how the projected number of analog auditoriums is calculated according to the assumptions previously explained in Section 3.1.  Due to recent industry trends and the rapid conversion to digital projection systems, this alternative analysis assumes that no new analog movie theaters will open over the period of analysis.

Table 6-5 : Calculation of Number of Indoor Auditoriums Exhibiting Analog Movies


Venue Type

U.S. Indoor Auditoriums
(2015)

×

Percentage of Auditoriums Exhibiting Analog Movies

=

Number of Auditoriums Exhibiting Analog Movies
(2015)

Megaplex

12,812

×

0%

=

0

Multiplex

20,322

×

0%

=

0

Miniplex

5,212

×

10%

=

546

Single-Auditorium

993

×

10%

=

104

Compliance Date
As discussed previously, the compliance period analyzed for auditoriums exhibiting analog movies is four years. This is longer than the 18-month compliance date for auditoriums exhibiting digital movies in the primary analysis (Section 2.1.2).  With the longer compliance date, movie theaters with analog auditoriums will have more time to purchase the necessary equipment.

Baseline
Industry research indicates that fewer auditoriums exhibiting analog movies are equipped to provide closed movie captioning and audio description than auditoriums exhibiting digital movies.  Unlike digital captioning equipment (Section 3.4), there is currently only one commercially-available product—the Rear Window® Captioning system (“RWC”) developed and marketed by WGBH—that enables analog systems to display closed movie captions to moviegoers on individual captioning devices.  The Department’s research indicates that some movie theaters have already purchased the Rear Window® systems for their auditoriums.  As a result, this alternative analysis assumes that two percent of all auditoriums exhibiting analog movies are equipped to provide closed movie captioning.  However, because the Department does not have any data on the number of auditoriums exhibiting analog movies that are equipped to provide audio description, the analysis assumes that no auditoriums are equipped to do so.

Unit Costs
As explained above, there is one technology provider (Rear Window®) of captioning technology for auditoriums exhibiting analog movies.34  Unit costs for analog captioning equipment are based on retail prices provided to the Department by manufacturers of captioning equipment via telephone interviews or available on Web sites or brochures.

Similar to auditoriums exhibiting digital movies, auditoriums exhibiting analog movies also require captioning hardware, audio description hardware, captioning devices, and audio description devices to provide closed movie captioning and audio description.  The unit costs for the components of the Rear Window®35 system are presented in Table 6-6.

Table 6-6 : Unit Costs for Rear Window® System for Analog Theaters


Technology

Analog Captioning Hardware Cost

Analog Captioning Device Costs

Analog Audio Description Hardware Cost

Analog Audio Description Device Costs

Rear Window

$7,113

$95

$467

$106

Though the unit costs differ, the scoping requirements for movie theaters with auditoriums exhibiting analog movies are nearly identical to those exhibiting digital movies (Section 3.3).  The one exception is that the audio description hardware used in the Rear Window® system requires one unit per auditorium, instead of one unit per movie theater for digital auditoriums in the primary analysis (Section 3.3.2).

Cost Estimation
The cost estimation for auditoriums exhibiting analog movies is presented in Table 6-7.  These cost estimates include the costs of providing closed movie captioning and audio description in auditoriums that exhibit analog movies exclusively.  Overall, the total costs for analog auditoriums are $4.6 million over the 15-year period of analysis when discounted at 7 percent.  The largest expense is for acquiring the Rear Window captioning hardware, which accounts for $2.6 million.  This is because of the high unit cost associated with Rear Window® captioning hardware previously shown in Table 6-6.

Table 6-7 : Total Costs by Cost Category for Auditoriums Exhibiting Analog Movies in Analog Alternative ($ millions)


Cost Category

Analog Alternative 7% Discounted

Captioning Hardware Acquisition Costs

$2.6

Audio Hardware Acquisition Costs

$0.2

Captioning Device Acquisition Costs

$0.1

Audio Device Acquisition Costs

$0.0

Installation Costs

$0.1

Replacement Costs

$0.8

Training Costs

$0.1

Maintenance and Administrative Costs

$0.6

Total Analog Costs

$4.6

The total costs of the final rule if auditoriums exhibiting analog movies exclusively are subject to the captioning and audio description requirements are presented in Table 6-8.  The total costs would be $93.1 million over the period of analysis when discounted by 7 percent.  This is a 5 percent increase over the estimated total costs in the primary analysis ($88.5 million).

Table 6-8 : Analog Alternative, Discounted at 7 Percent ($ millions)


Cost Category

Analog Alternative

Primary Analysis

Percent Change

Captioning Hardware Acquisition Costs

$17.3

$14.6

18%

Audio Hardware Acquisition Costs

$0.6

$0.5

36%

Captioning Device Acquisition Costs

$15.7

$15.7

0%

Audio Device Acquisition Costs

$2.5

$2.4

1%

Installation Costs

$1.1

$1.0

9%

Replacement Costs

$37.0

$36.1

2%

Training Costs

$10.0

$9.9

1%

Maintenance and Administrative Costs

$8.8

$8.2

8%

Total Costs

$93.1

$88.5

5%

Based on public comments and analysis of the most current data, the Department ultimately decided to defer analog auditoriums from coverage of this rule.  As previously discussed, the movie industry continues to undergo significant changes in the production and distribution of movies, resulting in the near elimination of first-run movies in analog film format.  Most movie theaters have converted to digital projection systems to the extent that they are financially able to do so, and as a result, small theaters that still have analog projection systems tend to have fewer financial resources than other movie theaters.  Because very few analog movie theaters remain and there is tremendous uncertainty surrounding the future of analog film with the industry’s digital conversion, the Department rejected the alternative four-year compliance date for analog movie theaters.  Therefore, the Department has deferred until a later date application of the rule’s requirements to movie theater auditoriums exhibiting analog movies exclusively.

34 Rear Window®’s digital captioning system is built-up from the platform developed for its analog equipment and is substantially higher in cost than the systems provided by Doremi and USL.  Due to the substantially higher cost of Rear Window for digital cinemas, it is not included in the cost analysis, as there are several products of lower cost, and it is assumed that movie theater owners will attempt to minimize their cost.  Furthermore, WGBH has indicated that there has been no new demand for its Rear Window® system, further bolstering the assumption that movie theaters with digital auditoriums are not choosing this product.

35 The hardware required for Rear Window technology includes an LED display necessary to show captions in each analog projection auditorium, a Datasat/DTS XD20 interface, and individual Reflectors that are used by patrons. The cost for the LED display ranges from $2,850 to $3,975, depending on whether it is a 2 or 3 line display (a 2 line display is recommended).  The LED display cost used in the Final RA is an average of the cost of the two displays.  The Datasat/DTS XD20 interface, which is an interface connecting the Rear Window® LED display to the theater system, costs about $4,200 per auditorium. The only device for individual use is the Rear Window Reflector, which fits into cup holders and costs $95 each.  (Note: all prices are taken from the “Rear Window® Captioning (RWC) Components Cost Overview” released by Median Access Group at WGBH August 2010, and adjusted for the fact that licensing fees are no longer required.)  For audio description, the William Sound Audio System is compatible with analog captioning systems and was used to estimate audio description equipment costs for analog systems.  The William Sound Audio System requires an audio transmitter for each auditorium, which costs $467.  Patrons may use a receiver and a headset, which cost $88 and $18, respectively.

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