Transcribe a News Broadcast, Get the Text
Upload a recorded news broadcast, or paste a link, and ScreenApp turns the audio into a transcript with speaker labels and timestamps. There is no download step for a URL: paste the link and the tool fetches and transcribes it directly. If the broadcast is playing live in a browser tab and you have no file to upload, record the tab with the screen recorder first, then transcribe the recording the same way.
You get a transcript you can search and quote instead of scrubbing through the footage to find a line.
What you get:
- A transcript with speaker identification, in 100+ languages
- search across recordings by name or transcript
- AI chat with any recording, so you can ask about a segment instead of rewatching it
- Export as PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT, ready for a caption file or a written record
- Free plan: 2 transcriptions of recordings up to 45 minutes each, with AI chat on both
How to Transcribe a News Broadcast
- Upload your recording or paste a link: Drag in a file (MP4, M4V, MOV, AVI, WEBM, MKV, FLV, TS, MTS, M2TS, 3GP, 3GPP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, VOB, OGV, RM, RMVB, MPG, MPEG, M2V, F4V, MXF) from a bulletin, segment or press conference, or paste a link from YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and most other public video links (Twitch, Loom, Dropbox, Google Drive, Pinterest, X, Threads, Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili) through a generic importer if the broadcast was published there as a clip.
- Let it transcribe: The audio is converted to text, speakers are separated, and every line gets a timestamp.
- Review and export: Read the transcript in the browser, search it for a name or a phrase, and export as PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT for a caption file or a written record.
Accuracy depends on the audio. A clean studio feed with one anchor speaking transcribes best; a live remote cross with wind noise, crowd sound, or overlapping voices will have more gaps. See how we measure accuracy.
News Broadcast Transcription vs Other Apps
| Feature | ScreenApp | Sonix | Rev | HappyScribe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 2 transcriptions, up to 45 min each | 30-min trial | 45 min/month (AI) | 10-min trial, up to 45 min/file |
| Transcription | Included | Included with the plan, or $10/hour pay as you go | $25.49/mo (AI, billed annually), $1.99/min (human) | Included with the plan |
| Speaker identification | Included | Included | Included | Not stated on the free plan |
| Export formats (free plan) | PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT | Not stated | Not stated | TXT, SRT |
| Languages | 100+ | 54+ | Not stated | 60+ |
| Paid plan | $19/month annual | $25/month | $25.49/month annual | $8.50/month annual |
Sources, checked 2026-09-16: screenapp.io/accuracy#languages, ScreenApp pricing, sonix.ai/pricing, rev.com/pricing, happyscribe.com/pricing
- vs Sonix: Sonix offers a one-time 30-minute trial, then a $25-a-month plan or $10-an-hour pay-as-you-go. ScreenApp’s free plan renews rather than being a one-time trial.
- vs Rev: Rev’s free tier gives 45 AI minutes a month, then charges $25.49/month (billed annually) per minute for an AI transcript, or $1.99 per minute for a human transcript. ScreenApp’s plans include transcription without a per-minute charge.
- vs HappyScribe: HappyScribe’s free trial is 10 minutes, capped at 45 minutes per file, with TXT, SRT exports on that plan. ScreenApp’s free plan gives a full recording up to 45 minutes with AI chat included.
Who Uses News Broadcast Transcription
Journalists pull an accurate quote from a broadcast for an article without replaying the whole segment.
Newsroom archivists transcribe past bulletins so the library is searchable by what was said, not just by air date and slug.
Media researchers and academics search dialogue across broadcasts and quote a segment accurately for a paper or a study.
PR and communications teams transcribe coverage of their client to check exactly what was said on air.
Political and issue researchers verify an exact quote from a debate, press conference or interview segment that aired.
Video producers and editors find a specific moment in a broadcast by searching the transcript instead of scrubbing through the timeline.