As we march into 2024, I would like to reflect on some of the progress we have reported on the ADP Website throughout the past year. We started the year with 8,717 titles available with audio description, and we ended the year with 10,604, an increase of nearly 22%. Here are some of the key events during the year that helped increase that number.
- HBO Max became Max and integrated the content of discovery+, much of which was described, though not on discovery+ by itself.
- Paramount+ merged Showtime into its content (currently with 52 titles described).
- Disney+ is in the process of merging Hulu content in, though Hulu (like discovery+ but unlike Showtime) is expected to remain available separately.
- We began listing described titles for Tubi, with smaller listings for Pluto TV, ReelAbilities Stream, and Magellan TV.
- Prime Video continues to dominate the titles with AD at 5242. Netflix comes next at 2494, followed by iTunes at 2137.
- Vudu had the greatest percentage increase in AD titles, followed by Max and Hulu.
- 136 DVDs and/or Blu-ray or 4K discs were released with AD tracks. That's a larger number than the three Covid years, but we are unlikely to get back to the 170s of 2018/19. There were 1715 described DVDs available at YE 2023..
- There were 182 movies with AD in Cinemas this year (some from 2022 still running in January), a bit fewer than last year.
- The number of videos available in the USA with non-English description continues to grow. Currently we list 3777 titles in 59 languages.
- We welcomed a new ADP Project Coordinator in January with expanded responsibilities. Tabitha Kenlon fit the bill with an excellent resume of experience.
- A lot of attention was paid to refining the Master AD list. Enhancements included adding the year of release to all videos (including DVDs), correcting those years of release for many services (to make the Master listing consistent), adding or correcting studio names for titles, etc.
For 2024, we are looking to website revisions to make it easier to find what you are looking for, among other changes. Thank you for your interest in the Audio Description Project.
– Fred Brack, ADP Webmaster, January 2024