World Screen

LONDON: ITV1 has unveiled its programming slate for the fall, with highlights that include a new drama with Robbie Coltrane and a documentary marking the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II. Announcing the upcoming schedule, Peter Fincham, …

LONDON: Five has reduced its programming budget for this year by 25 percent to £165 million in response to the advertising downturn. This is the biggest percentage reduction in program spend among all the major British broadcasters, press reports reveal. …

TORONTO: The Corus Entertainment female-skewing Canadian channels W Network, Cosmopolitan TV and VIVA have lined up a host of new and returning lifestyle series, dramas and movies for their fall schedules. W Network, aimed at women 25 to 54, adds …

BURBANK: From A. Smith & Co. Productions, the producers of such hits as Hell’s Kitchen, comes Crash Course, an automotive competition reality series set to air on ABC Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. Starting August 26, Crash Course puts teams …

PHILADELPHIA: HBO’s lineup of original and award-winning programming, as well as its extensive movie collection, is now available in HD to Comcast On Demand customers who subscribe to the premium cable channel. Comcast is the first cable provider to offer …

LONDON/BURBANK: ITV has picked up the rights to the new The CW drama The Vampire Diaries from Warner Bros. International Television Distribution, along with the fifth release in the Harry Potter franchise, among other titles. Based on the best-selling book …

LONDON: The U.S. drama FlashForward, which debuts in prime time on ABC in September, has been acquired for broadcast by Five in the U.K. from Disney-ABC-ESPN Television. The 13-episode drama, which stars British actors Joseph Fiennes and Jack Davenport, is …

LOS ANGELES: Nip/Tuck star Joely Richardson has been cast as Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s sixth and last wife, for the fourth season of Showtime’s The Tudors. Richardson joins the cast of the acclaimed drama for its final season, currently filming in Dublin …

WASHINGTON: Sesame Workshop’s Gary Knell and Nickelodeon’s Cyma Zarghami were among those testifying in front of a Senate committee yesterday as part of a government review of the Children’s Television Act. The hearing on Rethinking the Children’s Television Act for …

MOSCOW: Elena Glukhovskaya has been named sales manager for Russia at NBC Universal Global Networks, effective immediately. In this newly created role, Glukhovskaya will report to Colin McLeod, Global Networks’ managing director for Central and Eastern Europe. Glukhovskaya will be …