World Screen

LONDON: ITV’s acquisitions chief, Jay Kandola, is stepping down as part of the restructuring announced last month that is eliminating about 600 positions at the British commercial broadcasting group. In a statement, ITV said Kandola’s exit reflected the reduced emphasis …

BURBANK: Production has begun on the new sci-fi adventure feature Skyrunners, the first original movie for the newly branded platform Disney XD. Skyrunners features Kelly Blatz, who can also be seen in the title role of the network’s flagship series …

LOS ANGELES: A third season of the reality series High School Reunion has been picked up by TV Land, which will launch the new installment in the third quarter of 2009 in its TV Land PRIME programming block. Set on …

BURBANK: NBC has relegated its new drama Kings to Saturday nights, after lackluster ratings in its Sunday night slot. The remaining eight episodes of the drama, starring Ian McShane, will begin airing Saturdays at 10 p.m. on April 18. Its vacated Sunday …

LONDON: UKTV has ordered a new hidden-camera show from North One Television to air in prime-time exclusively on its new entertainment channel Watch. Tentatively titled My Little Soldier, the show sets up missions for kids under 5, whether it’s running …

LONDON: The House of Lords’ Communications Committee has released its report on public-service broadcasting in the U.K., advocating for a portion of the BBC’s license fee to be directed to support news and other types of programming on rival commercial …

LONDON: Channel 4 has commissioned a new seven-part series from Pioneer Productions on the story of the Bible that will map out the origins, ideas and influences of seven key sections of the scripture. The Bible: A History, a follow-up …

LONDON: National Geographic Channel U.K. has commissioned Wall to Wall to produce Sea Patrol UK and has tapped The Gamma Project for Britain’s Greatest Machines with Chris Barrie. Britain’s Greatest Machines with Chris Barrie is a four-part series that follows well-known British TV and …

LONDON: The rights for the Sky1 documentary Josef Fritzl: Story of a Monster have been presold by Target Entertainment Group to nine broadcasters around the world. The one-hour doc has been picked up by SBS in the Netherlands, TV2 in …

MUNICH: Big and Small, Poochini and Zeke’s Pad have been sold by Studio100 Media to Canal+ for its children and family channels Piwi, TéléTOON and Canal+ Family. The 52×11-minute puppetry series Big and Small is set to air on Piwi, while the …