Nordic Sound Symposium


SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY IN BROADCAST

Eddy B. Brixen - EBB-consult, DPA Microphones and The Danish National School of Performing Arts


Research performed by DR has shown that approximately half of the radio/tv-listeners in Denmark have less than perfect hearing. At the same time, the number of complaints related to sound and speech intelligibility in programmes by far exceeds other complaints topics.


Many listeners express they have a problem with too loud background music or other background sound. The question is: Who are we producing the audio for. Is it the broadcasters' responsibility to produce intelligible audio for the deaf community or is it the listeners' responsibility to provide personal aid for assistive listening?  

This presentation looks into the concept of high speech intelligibility in an age of bad hearing. It points out some of the "tricks of the trade" of which some work and others do not. It also focusses on the necessity of quality control in production. It looks into the various platforms and their special concerns.