As a technology-based phenomenon, non-professional subtitling is gaining more grounds because watching programs subtitled by fans has become a daily activity and behavior by an increasing number of individuals around the world. This paper sets out to present the results of an audience-focused study investigating the reception of amateur subtitling in Iran; a country where non-professional subtitling has been emerging alongside longstanding dubbing since the turn of the second millennium. To this end, over 130 Iranian young viewers were invited to participate in an experiment wherein they watched an entire episode of an American television sitcom with Persian non-professional subtitling. Viewers’ audiovisual translation habits and their reception of the subtitled program were determined through a structured questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The results highlight that a substantial percentage of Iranian viewers watch their favorite programs with online distributed subtitles produced by non-professionals. The study also reveals that the non-professional subtitles were positively appreciated. These findings provide evidence that despite what some scholars and professionals argue, amateur subtitling is by no means negatively perceived by ordinary viewers in the Iranian context. This is justified by the willingness of the Iranian viewers to disregard certain mistakes and fairly low quality in exchange for what such subtitling can offer what dubbing in Iran fails to provide.

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