The author looks at changes in the technology of subtitling in recent years, particularly the introduction of the running subtitle in news reporting since 9/11. The running title does not relate to the broadcaster’s text the way a traditional subtitle relates to what the characters say on the screen: though appearing in the same language (as in intralingual subtitling), it is not a transcription of the sounds we hear simultaneously coming out of the screen. Nor does it even necessarily provide further detail on the main item, though it may cover related topics. The author traces the link between this new form of television subtitling and the established history of film subtitling, focusing in particular on the practices of the benshi (in-house commentators) in early Japanese cinema. At their best, the benshi approached the type of translation dreamt of by Benjamin in which the film (original) and benshi (translation) were dynamically related so that every new benshi performance would necessarily transform the film itself.