Litton, Bridge Add Video Description to 'Ocean Mysteries'

Litton's Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin, part of Litton's Weekend Adventure kids' block that airs on ABC owned stations and affiliates across the country, is adding video description in partnership with New York-based Bridge Multimedia.

Video description, which provides enhanced description of a show's visual content and is inserted during pauses in the audio, is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The description is intended to make TV shows more accessible to a wide range of viewers, including those who are visually impaired, have learning disabilities, are autistic or are learning English.

"This new partnership will allow viewers with special needs to enjoy the same high quality, educational television programming that most people take for granted," said Matt Kaplowitz, president of Bridge Multimedia, in a statement. "The 'Weekend Adventure' shows, with their scope and sense of wonder, are a perfect fit for video description."

"Giving all viewers a better opportunity to learn and witness things they otherwise couldn't is an important step moving forward in educational/informational programming," said Litton President Dave Morgan, also in a statement. 

Litton hopes to add video description to all six of its shows in the Weekend Adventure block, according to a spokeswoman.

Ocean Mysteries is produced by Litton in partnership with the Georgia Aquarium. To see a sample of Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin with video description, click here.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.