World Screen

SILVER SPRING: All-new episodes of American Chopper return to TLC on October 22, followed by the debut of a new pilot, Heavy Haulers. American Chopper heads into its sixth season on October 22 at 9 p.m. The series follows the action …

WASHINGTON D.C./LOS ANGELES: Nat Geo Wild is set to launch in the U.S. in the spring of 2010, taking the place of Fox Reality Channel and, like National Geographic Channel, to be operated as a joint venture of Fox Cable …

STAMFORD: Shane McMahon, the executive VP of global media at WWE—and son of the company’s chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon—is resigning effective January 1, 2010. As executive VP of global media, McMahon has oversight for international TV distribution, live events, …

BURBANK: Citing Nielsen VideoCensus data, ABC.com says it was the number one online broadcast site last month in terms of unique viewers with 5.5 million, topping CBS’s 4.8 million, NBC’s 3.7 million, CW’s 1.8 million and FOX’s 1.7 million. ABC.com was …

HONG KONG: Following the restructure of STAR’s operations, FOX International Channels Asia (FIC) has unveiled its new enhanced portfolio and its leadership team as it looks to continue building its business in the region. FIC in Asia now consists of 37 channels, …

BURBANK: An exclusive multi-year home-entertainment deal has been signed between Warner Home Video (WHV) and Sesame Workshop. Beginning January 1, 2010, WHV will exclusively distribute multiple Sesame Street titles. The deal includes the Sesame Street library, new content, EST and …

STRASBOURG: New data released by the European Audiovisual Observatory shows that the number of on-demand services operating in Europe continues to grow, reaching 696 by the end of 2008, led by the U.K. with 145. The report, Video on Demand and Catch-Up …

TORONTO: The ten pilot episodes created through the TELETOON Detour Pilot Project are set to launch on Sympatico.ca and thedetour.ca, starting October 23 with Ninjamaica.  The TELETOON Detour Pilot Project launched in fall 2007, calling on the Canadian animation community to pitch …

NEW YORK: NBC Universal saw its third-quarter revenues drop 20 percent to $4.1 billion, according to parent company GE’s financials, while segment profit gained 13 percent to $732 million. Reports indicate that the Q3 earnings bump was helped along by …

AUCKLAND: Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPIE) has taken on the distribution rights for Paramount Home Entertainment International’s (PHEI) slate in New Zealand. Beginning this month, the three-year deal will see Universal Pictures Australasia distributing all Paramount DVD and Blu-ray home-entertainment …