Programming
AMI-tv carries a general entertainment lineup of programming including sitcoms, television dramas, films, talk shows, and documentaries. Although AMI-tv is primarily aimed at adults, a limited amount of programming broadcast during morning hours are aimed at children including such programs as Little Bear and Franklin. The majority of programming on AMI-tv are Canadian productions supplied in conjunction with other major Canadian broadcasters such as the CBC and CTV; a smaller portion of programming is also sourced from foreign broadcasters and studios, but in any case, no more than 33% of its programming can be supplied by a single broadcaster, and at least 50% of programming must by described by companies unaffiliated with AMI. The network also airs four hours a week of programming in French—as with its English programming, it is also closed captioned and contains audio descriptions in French.
AMI-tv also produces and airs original programming, primarily dealing with accessibility and disability-related topics. Of these included its 2011 documentary A Whole New Light, which focused on Canada's contributions to the research of vision loss. Notably, audio descriptions were also embedded directly into the film's content and dialogue, instead of being relegated to a post-production task. It also produced an original documentary series to lead up to the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Milestones of Champions: The Journeys of Canada's Paralympians, focusing on the stories of notable athletes at the Paralympic Games.
AMI-tv has also carried live coverage of special events with described video, such as the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in conjunction with CBC News; AMI-tv's audio descriptions were offered through SAP on CBC's own television outlets. AMI provided similar services for CBC during the 2011 federal election, the 2011 Gemini Awards, Canada Day festivities in Ottawa in 2012, and the 32nd Genie Awards. In conjunction with coverage of the games carried by CTV and Rogers properties, AMI-tv also offered coverage of the 2012 Summer Paralympics; including simulcasts of daily highlight shows with described video, and a daily program featuring interviews with athletes hosted by AMI reporters Carrie Anton (who was a member of Canada's gold medal winning goalball team at the 2000 Summer Paralympics) and Gary Steeves, both of whom are blind.
In September 2012, AMI-tv partnered with Sportsnet to broadcast three Toronto Blue Jays baseball games with described video provided by Sportsnet 590 correspondent Sam Cosentino, which included additional commentary such as explanations of on-screen graphics. Blue Jays president Paul Beeston praised AMI's involvement, stating that "to our knowledge, we are the first sports organization to have our games provided through this revolutionary approach to accommodating the needs of the blind and low-vision community." AMI-tv's Blue Jays coverage was expanded for the 2013 season, with Cosentino joined by veteran sportscaster Jim Van Horne.
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Famous quotes containing the word programming:
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—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)