World Screen

LONDON: ZenithOptimedia has downgraded its 2009 ad forecast, predicting an overall 9.9 percent decline (as compared with the previously reported 8.5 percent), but has somewhat rosier expectations for the second half of the year, with a "clear improvement in the …

By Bruce L. Paisner, the president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences I was having lunch with a friend—a longtime partner in a major law firm, and a very smart man. He leaned toward me …

NBC Universal last week unveiled five refreshed global channel brands under the renamed Universal Networks International division, following a multi-million-dollar investment in repositioning the services for worldwide audiences. The company has revitalized the branding on each with newly designed logos …

Even though the television industry has slipped into the worst recession in its history, sales of factual programming have remained strong. For the documentary and factual programming business, the current global economic crisis has given new relevance to the old …

Live-action shows targeting the tween set are still generating loyal fan bases for kids’ networks worldwide.   In the kids’ television-production market, live action is the place to be. Young ones can’t seem to get enough of it, and children’s …

NEW YORK: Sean "Diddy" Combs is looking for a new personal assistant in a second season of I Want to Work for Diddy, which launches on VH1 on November 2.  The show watches as a new batch of 11 contestants …

BURBANK: ABC Family and Build-A-Bear Workshop have aligned to create Holly and Hal Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure, an hour-long animated feature for the network’s Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas programming event. The special is based on a book …

LOS ANGELES: John Wells is executive producing a pilot for the American adaptation of the British series Shameless for Showtime starring the award-winning actor William H. Macy, whose credits include Fargo, Pleasantville and The Cooler. Showtime has ordered a pilot …

HOLLYWOOD: Dennis Maguire has been appointed president of Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment Worldwide, effective immediately. Maguire will report to Rob Moore, the vice chairman of Paramount Pictures. He is tasked with heading up the division’s sales, marketing and distribution of …

MUMBAI: India’s NDTV is said to be buying back the 26-percent stake in its NDTV Networks division held by NBC Universal. In January 2008, NBC Universal inked a deal to acquire 26-percent of NDTV Networks, which operates NDTV Imagine, a Hindi-language …