New series joining the 2025-26 AMI-audio schedule as of Sept. 2, include:

Reflections, Tuesday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET

Hosted by Ramya Amuthan (Kelly & Ramya), Reflections listens in on how we make sense of the world, through conversation and the lens of the lived experience of the disability community, weaving our questions with your stories. Contributors to Reflections include Kelly MacDonald, Grant Hardy, Joeita Gupta, Beth Deer and Nisreen Abdel-Majid. Available as an audio podcast.

Disability Rights, and Wrongs: The David Lepodcast 

In this audio podcast, outspoken disability rights advocate David Lepofsky  and AMI’s Jacob Shymanski welcome guests to discuss the latest in disability rights…and wrongs.

Returning programming on AMI-audio:

Voices of The Walrus, Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday at 8 a.m. ET

Veteran radio broadcaster Roger Ashby takes you into the pages of The Walrus, with a chorus of vibrant voices bringing to life essays and fiction from some of Canada’s best writers. Available as an audio podcast.

My Life in Books with Red Széll, Monday and Thursday at 8 a.m. ET

Join broadcaster Red Széll for My Life in Books with Red Széll, featuring one-on-one interviews with audiobook authors who discuss their life, works and three books that have resonated with them. Available as an audio podcast.

Maclean’s Magazine, Tuesday and Friday at 8 a.m. ET

Anastasia Maclean and Paul Berry present a selection of feature articles from the most recent edition of Maclean’s.

The Guardian Daily, daily at 9 a.m. ET

Hosted by Mike Ross, listen for a selection of feature articles from The Guardian, a British daily newspaper with a distinctly international outlook  focused on politics, economics and environmental issues.

The Globe and Mail Today, daily at 10 a.m. ET

Corinne Van Dusen and Matt Speirs deliver the Canadian news, editorials and business, sports and entertainment stories pulled from the latest edition of The Globe and Mail.

The Washington Post This Week, daily at 11 a.m. ET

Shawn Lavigne and Paul Berry read American news and opinions from the latest edition of The Washington Post.

Double Tap, daily at noon ET

Tune in daily for new episodes of Double Tap for discussions, led by Steven Scott and Shaun Preece, on news, reviews and technology stories of interest  to people who are members of the blind, partially sighted and disability community. Also available as an audio podcast and video podcast on YouTube.

Audiobook Café (formerly AMI Audiobook Review), Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. ET

Host Jacob Shymanski keeps you up to date with the latest audiobook releases and literary news, sharing in-depth conversations with authors, narrators and industry experts. Available as an audio podcast.

Para Sport Nation, Sunday, Monday and Saturday at 1:30 p.m.  ET

Para Sport Nation is where elite competition meets real stories from the  world of Para sport. Hosted by Paralympian Nathan Clement and AMI’s Alex Smyth, each episode dives into the athletes, events, and moments shaping adaptive sport in Canada and beyond. Also available as an audio podcast and video podcast on YouTube.

AMI-tv

Highlights of AMI-tv’s upcoming fall programming include:

September

Our Community returns Thursday, Sept. 4, at 9:30 p.m. ET to AMI-tv and AMI+ 

Celebrating its 10th season on AMI-tv, the Golden Sheaf Award-nominated Our Community highlights the people, places and organizations that have made life more enjoyable for Canadians with a disability. Organizations featured in the 12-episode 10th season include Vancouver’s All Bodies Dance project, Ontario’s WindReach Farm and Saskatchewan’s Prairie Branches.

Desert Racers debuts Friday, Sept. 19, at 9 p.m. ET on AMI-tv

Bruce Cook, the star of AMI’s IndieFEST award-winning By Hook or By Cook, is back with the brand-new six-episode series Desert Racers, exclusively on AMI-tv. Jimmy Diaz, a small-town Baja dreamer, teams up with the paraplegic daredevil to take on the most grueling off-road race in  the world: The Baja 1000. Desert Racers is produced by Render Digital Media. 

October

Game Changers returns Thursday, Oct. 2, at 9 p.m. ET to  AMI-tv and AMI+

Each episode of Game Changers finds Dave Brown in his element, visiting stunning locales while spending the day chatting with notable Canadians. Upcoming guests in the 20-episode, second season include Mary Walsh (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Olympic gold medal-winning  hockey goaltender Sami Jo Small, comedian Courtney Gilmour, Barenaked Ladies’ Kevin Hearn, hockey analyst and internet personality Steve Dangle, Gavin Crawford (Because News) and professional race car driver Marie-Soleil Labelle. Game Changers is produced by FRANK Digital.

November

Got Game returns Wednesday, Nov. 26, at 9 p.m. ET to AMI-tv and AMI+

Hosted by Joshua Ang, the six-episode second season of Got Game explores coming-of-age in a board game café as six youths with disabilities share their stories in a round table discussion while playing inclusive tabletop games, recognizing the individualism of these youth aside from  their disability. Got Game is produced by Mountain Road Productions.

All AMI-tv originals are available post-broadcast on demand at AMI+.

The post AMI unveils fall TV and audio lineup appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.

TVO has confirmed it’s laid off nine staff on its editorial team, but says it is not cancelling any journalism programming. John Ferri, VP of Programming and Content at the Ontario public broadcaster, confirmed in a statement released to Broadcast Dialogue that the layoffs impact five members of the web team, two managers and two other positions out of an editorial staff of 70. Ferri said the network continues to be committed to its documentary, podcast and digital video slates, but is making “a strategic choice to focus our website more on documentaries, video and podcasts than on text alone.” Read more here.

The CRTC has denied an application from Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) requesting an increase in its monthly per subscriber wholesale rate for AMI-tv and AMI-télé. The CRTC found that AMI did not demonstrate an immediate financial need for an increase and “did not propose clear and substantial programming changes that would significantly improve the services following a rate increase.” The commission noted it intends to consider “broader regulatory and systemic issues regarding the broadcasting system in upcoming public consultations to modernize Canada’s regulatory framework.” AMI’s application had sought an increase of $0.01 (to $0.21) for AMI-tv in anglophone markets and an increase of $0.02 (to $0.30) for AMI-télé in francophone markets. According to AMI, over the next two years (the remainder its licence terms), the requested rate increases would have generated approximately $1.33 million in revenue for AMI-tv and $1.29 million for AMI-télé.

FAIR, the Film & Television Alliance for Industry Responsibility, is a newly-formed coalition of Canadian film and television unions and guilds dedicated to ensuring accountable industry policy and responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Comprised of Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ), Directors Guild of Canada (DGC), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), NABET 700-M UNIFOR, Société des auteur.e.trice.s de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC), L’Union des Artistes (UDA), and Writers Guild of Canada (WGC), the group has been lobbying Telefilm Canada to adopt the same policy in place at the Canada Media Fund (CMF) requiring producers to remain in good standing with industry unions and guilds to qualify for funding. FAIR says 27% of productions with budgets over $5 million aren’t signing collective agreements, while 65% of productions with budgets under $1 million sign with only half, or fewer, of the applicable unions and guilds. Read more here.

Ed Barreveld and Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin were recognized with the top documentary achievement awards at the 11th Annual DOC Institute’s Honours Awards, celebrating pioneers and visionaries in Canadian documentary filmmaking. Barreveld is this year’s recipient of the Luminary Award. The Storyline Entertainment CEO and Emmy-winning producer began his film career as unit administrator of the NFB’s Ontario studio in Toronto. After four years traveling the world as a documentary line producer, he co-founded Storyline in 2000. Koostachin is this year’s winner of the Vanguard Award. With a background in community work, social justice themes emerge in her films, alongside bravery, healing, connection and humour. 

CTV’s 2024 holiday programming lineup includes new holiday specials. Jimmy Fallon’s Holiday Seasoning Spectacular (Dec. 18) sees the late night host explore a surreal and magical apartment building in New York where behind every door a different celebrity joins him for a comedic holiday musical performance. The one-hour special features Cara Delevingne, Dolly Parton, J.B. Smoove, Jonas Brothers, Justin Timberlake, LL Cool J, Meghan Trainor, The Roots, and “Weird Al” Yankovic. CTV will also air The Real Full Monty on Dec. 11. Inspired by the 1997 film, the two-hour special sees a daring group of male celebrities volunteer to bare all this holiday season to raise awareness of prostate, testicular, and colorectal cancer. Actor, comedian, and producer Anthony Anderson rallies a cast of male celebrities including Taye Diggs, NFL’s Chris Jones, Tyler Posey, Bruno Tonioli, and James Van Der Beek as they train and rehearse for the most revealing performance of their careers.

CTV Atlantic hosts the 61st Annual Christmas Daddies Telethon, starting at 11 a.m. AT on Saturday, Dec. 7 on CTV Atlantic, CTVAtlantic.ca, and the CTV app. One of the most anticipated annual charitable fundraising initiatives in the region, co-hosting this year in Halifax are Steve Murphy and Todd Battis, joined by CTV News at Five anchor Maria Panopalis alongside reporters Katie Kelly, Paul Hollingsworth, Kalin Mitchell, Brianne Foley, Emma Convey, Hafsa Arif, and Jesse Thomas. Additionally, CTV Atlantic reporters Laura Brown, Avery MacRae, and Alana Pickrell deliver updates from Glad Tidings Church in Moncton, alongside musician Ivan Daigle; local comedian Bette MacDonald hosts from the Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay, Cape Breton; and comedian Jimmy the Janitor from the Carrefour School Theatre in Charlottetown.

Corus Entertainment has announced the Winter/Spring 2025 schedule for the debut of newly-rebranded lifestyle channels, Home Network and Flavour Network. The channels’ social platforms will be live Dec. 27, while Flavour Network and Home Network will continue in the current channel position of Food Network Canada and HGTV Canada on Dec. 30. Both channels will be available for free preview for two months, from Jan. 3 – Feb. 28, 2025. Viewers will also be able to stream full episodes from both networks on STACKTV.

imagineNATIVE has acquired Indigenous media creator database Kin Theory, an initiative of U.S. based non-profit, Nia Tero. The acquisition will see imagineNATIVE take over operations and connect Indigenous artists in the Kin Theory database with imagineNATIVE’s existing programming with a goal of increasing opportunities for Indigenous creators and their reach. The extensive database includes actors, writers, directors, and musicians currently working in the industry. As part of the acquisition, imagineNATIVE will seamlessly transition the database’s current members over to the imagineNATIVE network which will operate on the existing website. The database will be championed to the imagineNATIVE network through events like the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in June. 

Media Technology Monitor (MTM) has released a new report on FAST channels, or Free Ad-supported Streaming Television. It finds about one-fifth of online Canadians (21%) have tuned into a FAST channel. Though not prevalent yet, these channels have experienced nearly 24% growth within a single year, rising from 17% in 2023 to 21% in 2024. Anglophone Canadians are more inclined to watch FAST channels – 23%, compared to their francophone counterparts at 13%. Off-air Canadians are the most likely to be watching FAST channels (43%). SVOD and YouTube viewers are only slightly more likely to watch FAST channels than the average online Canadian (23% versus 21%). MTM also found Canadian kids have adopted FAST channels more quickly than adults, with 30% reporting they watch content on these platforms. Boys (31%), younger kids (33%), anglophone children (33%) and those from lower-income households (37%) are more likely to be viewers. Tubi leads with 15% viewership among children, outpacing Roku, Pluto TV, and Samsung TV+, each with less than 10%.

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Prime Video has unveiled seven new projects greenlit for Canada, including three to be directed and executive produced by comedian Tom Green. They include an untitled comedy special capturing his recent 40+ city comedy tour across North America, a documentary following his career, and Tom Green Country, a reality series following his move from Hollywood to a farm outside Ottawa. Other titles announced include Canadian true crime docuseries In Cold Water: The Shelter Bay Mystery, looking into the 2010 drowning death of small-town Alberta school teacher Laura Letts-Beckett, which her husband Peter Beckett has claimed was a tragic accident, despite the assertions of police and prosecutors. Read more here.

Canadian Cinema Editors (CCE) have handed out the 2024 CCE Awards. Mary Stephen and Gordon McClellan were this year’s Lifetime Achievement honourees. Stephen was French New Wave master Eric Rohmer’s chief editor for more than 30 years, while McClellan has been a Picture Editor in Drama and Documentary for over 50 years. Select credits include the first five seasons of The Fifth Estate, music documentary Tears Are Not Enough, and six seasons of Road to Avonlea. Don Thompson, Founding Director and now Chair of the Vancouver Post Alliance (VPA), received the Career Achievement Award.

The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) has announced the winners of the Rockie Awards International Program Competition. Among the Canadian winners was The Fades of Papineau (Ça prend pas la tchas à Papineau), which captured Short Form Fiction Series (Trio Orange) and the Emerging Talent Prize for Emilie Mannering. Séries Plus dramatic comedy Les Bombes won the Prix Francophone, while the Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content went to the documentary Satan Wants You (Nootka Street Film Company, Grand Scheme Productions, 666 Films). HBO’s The Last of Us was recognized with the Grand Jury Prize and the award for Drama Series: English Language.

TIFF has announced the first honourees of this year’s Tribute Awards: Oscar-nominated actor Amy Adams, who will receive the TIFF Tribute Performer Award; and iconic Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter David Cronenberg, who’ll be recognized with the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award. Sandra Oh will serve as the inaugural Tribute Awards Honorary Chair. The sixth annual Tribute Awards will take place Sept. 8 at Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The gala is TIFF’s largest annual fundraiser, with this year’s proceeds going towards its Every Story Fund, which champions diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in film.

The Toronto International Film Festival has announced its first six official selections for the 2024 festival, Sept. 5–15. Making their World Premieres at the 49th edition of the festival are: R.J. Cutler and David Furnish’s Elton John: Never Too Late; Woo Min-ho’s Harbin; Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck, starring Tom Hiddleston; dark comedy Nightbitch featuring Amy Adams; Rez Ball, a coming-of-age film about Indigenous basketball produced by LeBron James; and The Wild Robot, an animated film featuring an ensemble cast led by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o as Roz, a robot shipwrecked on an island that must adapt to its surroundings.

CBC is recognizing National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day with a broadcast, streaming, audio and digital lineup of original and special programming that showcases First Nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives. CBC TV and CBC Gem will broadcast and stream the Indspire Awards on Friday, June 21, recognizing Indigenous peoples across the country in a variety of fields. Other featured programming includes Marie Clements’ award-winning Bones of Crows, which will start streaming starting June 22. CBC Radio and CBC Listen will also air a 10th anniversary special of UNRESERVED, a live taping with host Rosanna Deerchild, featuring comedy by Sherry McKay, music by Douzie and the return of the “Aunties Circle” featuring Vida Lamour, Sonya Ballantyne and Shelagh Rogers.

AMI is currently in production on new scripted and docuseries for 2024-25 from Big Time Decent Productions, Canadian Content Studios, Flow Video, Summerhill Media, Border2Border Entertainment, Prairie Cat Productions, Bone Vault and Catapult Pictures. They include digital docuseries After Dark (working title), exploring sex, love, dating and relationships relevant to people with disabilities; Collar of Duty Kids, a children’s docuseries taking young viewers into the lives of kids who’ve been matched with service animals; The Crip Trip, a punk-rock, road trip docu-comedy following the misadventures of artist, filmmaker, and quadruple amputee Daniel Ennett and his producer/friend/caregiver Frederick Kroetsch; Get Hooked (in partnership with OutTV), exploring how members of the queer, Black, Indigenous and disability community capitalize on the mental health benefits of fishing; Low Vision Moments (working title), a half hour scripted comedy based on the life of Jennie Bovard, the host of the AMI podcast of the same name; Underdog Inc. featuring Dale Kristensen (Backroad Truckers), a Little Person, as he navigates life in a mountain town; and We Were Broncos, the story of Ryan Straschnitzki’s life beyond the horrific Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018.

Fremantle has secured a global deal with Pluto TV to distribute 25 FAST channels across 13 countries, with each channel curated for individual markets. The partnership expansion will see 24 of the Fremantle’s most popular FAST channels premiere in Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Italy, San Marino, Demark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, the UK, and the U.S. The deal will see the Three’s Company channel launch for the first time outside of the U.S., premiering internationally in Canada later this summer, in addition to Escape to the Country, Baywatch, Supermarket Sweep, Family Feud Classic, Let’s Make a Deal, The Price is Right: Bob Barker, The Price is Right: Drew Carey, Alarm Fur Cobra, Project Runway, Prisoner and Jamie Oliver.

ICON Creative Studios animation workers are the latest to join The Canadian Animation Guild, IATSE Local 938. The 700 workers at the Vancouver studio are the fourth animation group to form a union in B.C., joining workers from Titmouse Vancouver, Kickstart, and WildBrain. One of the largest animation studios in Vancouver, workers at ICON now begin the bargaining process.

Bell Media has confirmed that CP24 and BNN Bloomberg will move from 299 Queen Street West to Bell Media’s Agincourt studios to join a news hub, alongside CTV National News, CTV News Toronto, CTVNews.ca, and CTV News Channel. Bell says previous plans for redevelopment of the 299 Queen Street campus have been paused. According to a leaked memo obtained by blogTO in 2022, the building was originally set to be vacated late in 2024 or early 2025 due to construction of the Ontario Line subway and new towers surrounding the building. Purchased by CHUM in 1985, and formerly home to Citytv and MuchMusic, the building is listed on the City of Toronto Heritage Registry.

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