The state of pivot subtitling

Abstract At the heart of media globalization lies pivot subtitling – an indirect translation method that facilitates accessibility and cultural diversity in a vastly multilingual mediascape. Conducted between September 2022 and April 2023, this survey targeted 80 Turkish subtitlers who translated Korean content for various subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) platforms. The study aims to understand the working conditions of Turkish pivot subtitlers, elicit recommendations, and provide insights to industry stakeholders. The findings reveal a lack of uniformity within pivot subtitling workflows across SVoD platforms, highlighting the need for standardized working conditions. The study also addresses the quality assurance of pivot subtitles and templates, emphasizing the absence of consistent procedures in post-submission processes. The results call for measures to uphold equitable working conditions for pivot subtitlers, underscored by achieving uniformity in workflows, and a commitment to confront systemic challenges that disincentivize direct translation in favor of indirect translation via pivot templates.