World Screen

PARIS/COPENHAGEN: Banijay Entertainment Group has created a new distribution division, Banijay International, incorporating Nordisk Film TV World, which it acquired last October. Banijay International will distribute all formats and finished programming produced by Banijay Entertainment companies, including The Missionaries, 71 Degrees North, …

LONDON: The Royal Television Society (RTS) has announced the winners for the Programme Awards, which celebrate all genres of programming. BBC Productions’ The Thick of It won for best scripted comedy, beating out Miranda and The Inbetweeners. Newswipe with Charlie Brooker …

LONDON: On Demand Group has clinched a deal to bring a slate of long-form content from Disney—including episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives—to 3 U.K.’s mobile SVOD service. The service, TV on Demand, is fully managed and powered by On …

MUNICH: Tandem Communications and Salisbury Cathedral have undertaken an ongoing relationship based on the commonalities regarding The Pillars of the Earth. The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the building of the fictional 12th century Kingsbridge Cathedral in …

LOS ANGELES: Comcast International Media Group (CIMG) has signed a number of channel deals for E! International Network, with new launches in France, the Netherlands and Macedonia. E! International Network launched on France Telecom’s Orange TV platform via DTH, DSL …

NEW YORK: Hallmark Channel has acquired the exclusive license for the domestic TV rights to a range of lifestyle programming from the library of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) to air as part of its soon-to-launch seven-hour home and lifestyle …

LONDON: The high-definition version of Five is to start broadcasting to more than 2 million Sky+HD homes this July. Five’s lineup includes the U.S. dramas CSI and FlashForward, soaps such as Neighbours and Home & Away, international cricket and live …

LONDON: Weird or What?, produced by Cineflix Productions and distributed outside the U.S. by Cineflix International, will receive its MIPTV launch with the iconic William Shatner on hand to present the new show. In the series, Shatner will investigate and analyze …

SINGAPORE: The general-entertainment pay-TV channel AXN is to launch in high definition in Southeast Asia this May. AXN HD has already secured carriage on two platforms in Southeast Asia, with details to be announced soon. The HD version of AXN is …

NEW YORK: Total advertising expenditures in the U.S. fell by 12.3 percent to $125.3 billion last year, reports Kantar Media, but the decline did slow towards the end of the year, with Q4 ad spending down just 6 percent on the year-ago …