World Screen

TORONTO: Tricon Films & Television has scored a second-season commission from YTV in Canada for the kids’ talent format The Next Star. Fifteen new hour-long episodes will be produced of the superstar-seeking talent show. Along the same lines as the …

LONDON/NEW YORK: GroupM has revised its ad forecasts for the year, predicting a 4.4-percent drop in spending to $425 billion in 2008, as compared with its previous estimate of a 0.2-percent fall to $458 billion. The U.S. alone will experience …

CANNES/MUNICH: France 3 has picked up a total of 12 feature-length made-for-TV adaptations of Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries, by American writer Donna Leon, from Bavaria Media. The Brunetti novels are published all over the world and have been translated into …

STRASBOURG: New data from the European Audiovisual Observatory’s MAVISE database reveals that there are now almost 5,600 channels available in the 29 EU countries, with 200 new additions in 2008 alone. The 5,587 channels do not include the 412 non-European channels …

CANNES: The Indonesian treatment of Venevision International’s Somos Tu y Yo (You & Me) will launch April 7 on the Global TV channel in Indonesia. The format was acquired, adapted and produced by Manoj Samtani, the managing director of DVI …

UNIVERSAL CITY/EL SEGUNDO: NBC Universal and DIRECTV have extended their partnership for the acclaimed drama Friday Night Lights, with an additional two seasons due to premiere on the satellite platform, with a subsequent airing on NBC. There will be a total of …

CANNES: More than 100 territories have snapped up Durham County from ITV Global Entertainment, which is at MIPTV launching a second season of the drama. Six new one-hour episodes from Back Alley Films and Muse Entertainment are on offer. The first season …

CANNES/MUNICH: SevenOne International has closed a deal with Banijay Entertainment for the rights to the Sat.1 show Mister Perfect in France and Spain. Produced by Werner Kimmig, Mister Perfect puts male candidates to the test, as a women-only audience teams …

NEW YORK: Fox Soccer Channel has beat out ESPN in the bid for the U.S. rights to UEFA Champions League matches, beginning next season. ESPN, which has aired the Champions League in the U.S. since 1994, yesterday confirmed the switch. "We have been …

CANNES: An exclusive distribution agreement has been signed between Echo Bridge Entertainment and Daro Film Distribution for a slate of movies and feature films, drama series and children’s fare from the Alliance Atlantis International Distribution catalogue throughout Africa. The agreement …