How Accurate Are Subtitles in Popular TV Shows?
The use of subtitles is becoming more and more popular, especially among young people. An astonishing 80% of 18-24 year olds say they use subtitles “all or part of the time”. As opposed to 56-75 year olds, where just 23% use subtitles regularly. This is despite having higher rates of deaf and hearing-impaired people: Just 10% of 18-24 years olds said they have hearing issues, compared to 18% in the older group. For many, it’s not about hearing, subtitles have become an essential aid for following a show — especially if other distractions and devices are competing for their attention. (@ sound editors: please do better)
Research by Stagetext, who provide captions for live and online events, found that an average of 31% of people would go to more live events and shows if more had captions on a screen in the venue. Among 18-25s, that figure was 45%, compared with 16% among over-56s.
However, there is increasing debate about whether subtitling is accurate in many TV shows — or are these platforms cutting costs by using AI-generated text? For example, Korean-speaking fans of Squid Game complained that the subtitling sometimes changed the meaning or nuance of the dialogue.
In a Twitter post, fluent Korean speaker Youngmi Mayer claimed, “The dialogue was so well written and zero of it was preserved [in the subtitles].” She gave an example: In one scene a character tries to convince people to play the game with her, and the closed-caption subtitles read: “I’m not a genius, but I still got it worked out.”
But what the character actually says, Youngmi explains, is: “I am very smart, I just never got a chance to study.” She continued, “[It] seems so small, but it’s the entire character’s purpose of being in the show.”
So how do you know if you’re watching/reading an accurate translation of the script, or not?
The accuracy of subtitles in popular TV shows varies depending on several factors, including the platform, language, and whether the subtitles are manually created or auto-generated. Here’s a breakdown:
Factors Affecting Subtitle Accuracy
- Official vs. Auto-Generated Subtitles
- Official Subtitles (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc.): These are usually high-quality because they are professionally created by a professional translator. (That said, minor errors may still occur due to time constraints or localization choices.)
- Auto-Generated Subtitles (YouTube, Live TV, etc.): Often less accurate, with issues in timing, misheard words, and mistakes made due to pronunciation. Which leads to issue of whether strong regional accents should be subtitled? (Or all regional accents!)
- Editing & Timing Issues
- Some streaming services simplify or shorten subtitles to improve readability, which can sometimes change the meaning slightly.
- Subtitles may be out of sync with the speakers, or with the action — this can affect comprehension, and sometimes inadvertently provide spoilers! Professional subtitles put a lot of focus into the timing, and length of time, captions remain on-screen.
- It’s worth noting that dubbed content often has altered dialogue/subtitles to the match lip movements of actors, rather than direct translations.
- Fan-Made Subtitles
- Unofficial subtitles (common in anime, K-dramas, and foreign films) can range from excellent (by skilled translators) to highly inaccurate (by enthusiastic amateurs!)
Common Errors in TV Show Subtitles
- Misinterpretations: Slang, idioms, and cultural references can be mistranslated.
- Censorship: Some subtitles are modified to remove profanity or sensitive topics.
- Spelling & Grammar Mistakes: Errors can slip through, even in official subtitles.
Read more: Audiovisual Translation: Problems / Solutions
How Accurate Are Subtitles…?
- Streaming services like Netflix & Disney+: ~95% accuracy.
- Auto-generated subtitles (YouTube, live broadcasts): ~70-85% accuracy.
- Fan-made subtitles: Varies widely, from 50% (low-quality) to 95% (high-quality).