World Screen

World Screen Weekly, September 4, 2008 COUNTRY: U.K. LAUNCH DATE: Milkshake! launched as a branded block on Five in 1997, and on Five Life, which has now been renamed FIVER, in 2006. OWNERSHIP: Fully owned by the RTL Group. DISTRIBUTION: …

MADRID, September 5: Six companies, including Mediaset and News Corporation, have expressed interest in acquiring the Spanish pay-TV business Digital+ from Grupo Prisa, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Other firms said to be circling the asset include Telefónica, France …

MADRID, September 5: Telefónica has inked a deal that will give it a 5.5-percent stake in a Chinese telecommunications giant that is being created by the upcoming merger between China Netcom (CNC) and China Unicom (CU). Telefónica has entered into …

PARIS, September 5: Gary Wang, the founder and CEO of Tudou, the video-sharing service that is often referred to as the YouTube of China, is set to deliver a keynote speech at MIPCOM. Wang’s address will take place October 16, …

LONDON, September 5: Informa has rejected a buyout offer from a consortium of the private-equity firms Providence Equity, Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group, declaring that the 450 pence per share price “significantly undervalues” the company. In late June, the publishing …

LOS ANGELES, September 5: CBS Paramount International Television has notched up a host of new broadcasters, including Virgin Media in the U.K. and Network Ten in Australia, for the daily talk show The Doctors ahead of its launch in the …

LONDON, September 5: Power is working with Company Pictures on The Devil’s Mistress, a new period drama for Channel 4 starring 300 star Dominic West. The mini-series, also known as The Devil’s Whore, is set against the backdrop of the …

TORONTO, September 5: My Canada, a series of director-narrated documentary films from producer Michael Burns along with CTV, is set to premiere in Vancouver in 2010. Managing partners on the project include Arts and Communications, Nuria Bronfman and Manifest Communications. …

BURBANK, September 5: Unique visitors for the month of August reached 20.9 million for ABCNews.com, a 51-percent increase on the year-ago period. The site had 213.6 million page views, up 39 percent from the previous year, and video views increased …

BEVERLY HILLS, September 5: W!LDBRAIN has inked an overall exclusive agreement with animation veteran Danny Antonucci, the creator of Ed, Edd n Eddy, to develop original series as well as feature-film and new-media projects. The development slate will cover a …