World Screen

HILVERSUM: The Marriage Ref, from comedian Jerry Seinfeld and partner Ellen Rakieten, will be distributed internationally by Endemol, which will also produce local versions of the comedy-reality format worldwide.    Endemol will be the exclusive distributor of the format across all …

PHILADELPHIA/NEW YORK: Comcast has purchased from Hearst its 50-percent interest in New England Cable News (NECN), a 24-hour news network servicing 3 million subscribers in some 1,120 cities and towns in all six New England states. Comcast’s regional programming operations …

NEW YORK: Nielsen estimated that around 2.5 million homes went without television over the first weekend following the switch to digital, representing around 2.2 percent of TV households in the U.S. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration received more than …

HONG KONG: The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has released new data on Asian Satellite demand, reporting a 9-percent market growth in 2008-2009 with some 1,370 transponders currently in use across the region. The "Video in Demand" …

LOS ANGELES: Billionaire investor Carl Icahn continues to increase his holdings in Lionsgate, now controlling 16.9 percent, for a total of 19.8 million shares. This is nearly double the 10.8 million shares Icahn held at the beginning of the year. …

BUDAPEST/AMSTERDAM: Effective immediately, Betzalel Kenigsztein takes on the role of managing director of UPC Hungary, the Hungarian cable broadband operation of UPC Broadband, the European cable division of Liberty Global. Kenigsztein previously held a range of senior management positions at …

LOS ANGELES: Gareth Provan has joined indie producer The Gurin Company as VP of production. Provan will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of television and ancillary content production for The Gurin Company, including serving as a producer on The …

MIAMI: Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has given Klaudia Bermudez-Key oversight for all of the television networks under the SPE Networks Latin America umbrella, including Sony Entertainment Television (SET), AXN and Animax, in the role of senior VP and general manager. …

SÃO PAULO: Globo TV International is at DISCOP with the telenovela The Favorite, which has already been sold to Rustavi 2 in Georgia. The Favorite follows the rivalry between old partners in a country-music duo, Flora and Donatela. Flora winds …

NEW YORK: Under a new three-year agreement, Gaiam will release home-video products from Discovery Communications networks, including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, ID: Investigation Discovery, Science Channel, HD Theater and Military Channel. The DVDs and Blu-ray releases will feature complete …