Narrative Entertainment partners with Encompass to provide high-quality subtitling using Altitude Intelligence

Narrative Entertainment has partnered with Encompass to deliver high-quality subtitling of its Great! network content using the Altitude Intelligence AI‑assisted subtitling platform, delivering a step‑change in subtitle quality, speed, and scale.

Narrative Entertainment runs the free-to-air Great! network, including Great! TV, Great! Action, Great! Mystery and Great! Romance broadcasting on Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media, along with a range of digital channels and the Great! Player.

By combining advanced AI transcription and language analysis with the expertise of highly skilled subtitlers, Narrative benefits from a platform that delivers subtitle quality and accuracy substantially better than AI-only services. The result is broadcast‑ready subtitles produced faster, more cost-effectively and more accurately than traditional methods, while achieving a level of linguistic accuracy, contextual understanding, and editorial polish that AI alone cannot match.

“At Narrative, we’re focused on considered AI integration, and working with Encompass has enabled us to provide quality subtitling at a pace and scale we couldn’t achieve before,” said Narrative Entertainment Operations Director, Kelly Beavan. “This partnership adds value to our viewers – whether for deaf and hard of hearing audiences, or those who just prefer watching with subtitles, as many younger viewers do.”

Altitude Intelligence integrates AI directly into Encompass’ media supply chain, enabling automated analysis of dialogue, context, timing, and language nuances before files are passed to a skilled subtitling team for review and refinement. This hybrid approach ensures consistent adherence to house styles, accurate handling of speaker context, and precise timing aligned to on‑screen action, all at an industry‑leading price point and time-to-market.

AI Efficiency, Expert Quality

The Altitude Intelligence subtitling service leverages AI to accelerate transcription and linguistic analysis, dramatically reducing manual effort in the early stages of subtitle creation. Crucially, this is followed by review and refinement from Encompass’ experienced subtitling team, ensuring subtitles are natural, readable and contextually accurate – qualities that remain out of reach for fully automated solutions.

Altitude Intelligence Vision
AI‑enhanced subtitling is one component of Encompass’ broader Altitude Intelligence portfolio, which combines Encompass’ deep media operations expertise with AI‑assisted automation across the media lifecycle. Altitude Intelligence supports content owners and broadcasters with AI‑driven services, including transcription, translation, metadata creation, compliance, scheduling, post-production, and live operations, all embedded within Encompass’ operational platforms and workflows.

“Altitude Intelligence is designed as an operational accelerator platform,” stated Keir Shepherd, Encompass Chief Solutions Officer. “It’s about combining the scale and speed of AI with the judgement, experience and accountability of expert operators to deliver better results for our clients, and it was that powerful combination that appealed to the team at Narrative Entertainment.”

With Altitude Intelligence, Narrative Entertainment can deliver high-quality access services across all its linear channels today and grow accessibility on FAST and app services in the future. With an extensive library of content spanning multiple genres and decades, providing consistent high-quality subtitling ensures Narrative Entertainment’s audiences can access and enjoy everything the channels have to offer.

About Narrative Entertainment

Narrative Entertainment is the UK’s largest independent broadcaster of free-to-air TV, with a portfolio that includes Movies, Entertainment and Kids’ channels.

Narrative Entertainment provides advertisers with access to valuable and hard-to-reach household audiences through its free-to-air (FTA) Great! and Pop network of channels.

Great! is an active campaigner for representation of audiences across television programming and advertising, and in September 2025 launched The Upper Third report to shine a brighter, kinder light on the UK’s 22 million TV viewers over 55.

Narrative Entertainment’s channels are available across a wide range of linear and digital platforms, including Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media, FAST channels on Samsung TV Plus, LG, Netgem, Pluto TV and Titan OS, and the dedicated Great! Player.

About Encompass Digital Media

Encompass Digital Media is a global managed services company that is technology-driven, software-defined, and people-powered. World-leading broadcasters, networks, sports rights-holders, and OTT platforms rely on its unique global reach, unrivalled quality of service, and unmatched industry expertise to make the most of their media. 

Every day, Encompass processes over 25,000 hours of content and serves 850 channels to 84 countries; it distributes over 243,000 live events annually, and reaches 400 million radio listeners weekly worldwide.

For more information, please visit www.encompass.tv and follow us on LinkedIn.