Exemplary Television Translation

Television translation is preparing a programme for a channel in another territory - subtitle files, dub tracks and the delivery paperwork. The work is produced by people and not by software, and what shapes it here is translation across documents, websites, media and software from one supplier, so the deliverable fits how you actually work instead of a generic template. Every file is checked by a second reviewer before it is sent.

Mostly broadcasters, distributors and production companies delivering a series to a channel abroad. What they have in common is material that has to be exact and not roughly right, which is why every file is checked against the source before delivery. Most of the work here ends up in front of someone with the authority to reject it.

You choose: editable Word or Google Docs, a searchable PDF for filing, or Excel where the content belongs in a table. The format for television translation is agreed at order stage, so the first delivery is the one you can file, send on or publish. Editable files come back editable - a Word document returns as Word, not as a PDF you cannot amend. Send a template once and every later order follows it.

The broadcaster publishes its own delivery spec, so frame rate, line length and file type are set by them. That is settled before work begins and not discovered afterwards, so the first delivery is the one you can use. The translator works into their own first language, which is what keeps long text readable instead of merely correct.

Worth asking for: ad break positions, on-screen credits and compliance cards are carried into every language version rather than redone locally. It is easier to set at order stage than to retrofit, and it costs nothing on top of the quoted rate when it is part of the original brief. A certified version and a plain working copy can be issued from the same job.

Yes, in 100+ languages, each handled by a native speaker and not by someone working from a dictionary. What television translation involves does not change with the language, and the same independent check happens before delivery. Rarer languages are confirmed as available before the quote goes out, not after you have paid.

Transcription starts at $1 per audio minute and translation at $0.10 per word. Television translation is quoted from the material you send, so a short job and a long one are worked out the same way. Quotes are calculated from what the material is, how long it runs and how quickly you need it back, so two clients sending comparable material pay the same, and nothing begins until you approve the written total.

Rush delivery within 2 to 24 hours is available, and the delivery time is confirmed in writing before you pay. Television translation is scheduled against the people who actually do this work, not against a general pool. Scope is agreed before the clock starts, so a document job, a website and a media file on the same order each get their own realistic date. If a deadline cannot be met you are told at quoting stage, not on the day.

The standard is 99+%, reached by doing the job twice: one person produces the file, and a second checks it before release. What gets checked on television translation is the detail a reader would otherwise have to verify alone: names, figures, terms and anything the source left ambiguous.

It is handled by restricting access, not by promising discretion. Television translation often involves material people would not want circulated, so the file is closed to everyone except the pair working on it. Everyone on the job is under NDA, transfer is encrypted, and your own confidentiality agreement is signed before work starts if you have one.