World Screen

LONDON: KidsCo has signed a deal to bring a number of classic children’s properties from the FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) catalogue to Western European audiences in Spain, Portugal, France and Germany. Classic characters and series such as Count Duckula, DangerMouse, The Big Friendly Giant …

SINGAPORE: StarHub is set to launch a new 24-hour English-language news channel, Russia Today, on December 1.   StarHub will be the first pay-TV operator in Singapore to offer viewers round-the-clock news and infotainment programs from a Russian perspective. Russia Today is …

CINCINNATI: Scripps Networks Interactive has acquired a 69-percent stake in NDTV Group’s lifestyle programming subsidiary, NDTV Lifestyle. NDTV Group retains the remaining 31 percent. NDTV Lifestyle is anchored by NDTV Good Times, India’s top-ranked English-language lifestyle channel. The $55 million transaction is …

NEW YORK: Real Time with Bill Maher has been renewed for an eighth season by HBO, with new hour-long editions debuting at 9 p.m. for the first time.  The season launches on February 19, and encore presentations will air at …

MAINZ: ZDF Enterprises has signed National Geographic Channel (NGC) as co-production partner for three HD documentaries.  The hour-long Secrets of Angkor provides insights into the ancient civilization of the Khmer. Produced by Spiegel TV Hamburg, the projects premiered on NGC in July. The …

BARCELONA: Vivendi CFO Philippe Capron said the company wants to exit NBC Universal (NBCU) and does not want to be part of the proposed General Electric-Comcast joint venture, but the Vivendi board has not yet reached a decision on the …

LONDON: YouTube is making full-length episodes of series such as Hollyoaks and Gordon Ramsay’s F Word available to U.K. viewers through its new "Shows" section.  The new section provides the first shows from a deal with Channel 4 announced last …

LONDON: Virgin1 has signed a deal with NBC Universal International Television Distribution for the DTT rights to air the sci-fi drama Warehouse 13 and medical series Trauma in the U.K.  Airing on Syfy in the U.S., and recently renewed for a …

MUNICH: Tandem Communications has appointed Philip Hahn as post-production producer and has promoted Patrick Phelan to senior sales manager. Prior to joining Tandem, Hahn was senior project producer at ARRI Film & TV Services, responsible for business development of hardware …

LONDON: Archie Norman, the former chief executive of U.K. supermarket chain Asda, has been tapped to replace Michael Grade as the chairman of ITV. Norman is to take up the post in January, when Grade steps down as executive chairman. John …