World Screen

OTTAWA, August 15: Poland’s HAGI has licensed 39 half-hour episodes of the animated series The Secret World of Benjamin Bear from Amberwood Entertainment for various additional European territories. A fourth season of the series was recently commissioned by Canada’s Playhouse …

LOS ANGELES, August 15: This fall, G4 will launch the new half-hour series Human Wrecking Balls, featuring brothers Craig and Paul Pumphrey as they demolish everything from boats to houses using their bare hands. Craig Pumphrey is a police officer …

VICTORIA, August 15: Australia’s Short Attention has licensed a package of some 100 short films to NBC Universal Global Networks in Asia. The shorts run the gamut from science fiction, thriller and crime to comedy and drama and hail from …

NEW YORK/LONDON, August 14: News Corporation and Permira have signed the deal to take NDS private for the previously announced value of $63 per share, after first proposing the transaction in June. The agreement will see NDS ceasing to be …

NEW YORK, August 14: The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced the nominees for the news and current-affairs categories of the International Emmys, with first-time nods for Al Jazeera, while Brazil’s TV Globo and Romania’s Pro TV …

BEIJING, August 14: A total of 82 million viewers tuned in to NBC to watch swimming star Michael Phelps set the record for winning the most Olympic gold medals ever, delivering a 19.9 rating and a 34 share. "Obviously our …

SCOTTSDALE, August 14: Revenues from online video around the world will top $4.5 billion by 2012, according to In-Stat, up from $1.2 billion this year. The market is expected to be driven by purchased/rented videos, thanks in part to subscription …

LONDON, August 14: New research from Ofcom indicates that people in the U.K. spent an average of 7 hours and 9 minutes per day on communications devices in 2007, including TV, the Internet and mobile, a 6-minute gain on 2002. …

LOS ANGELES, August 14: Paula Wagner is stepping down from her role as the CEO of United Artists, which she and Tom Cruise relaunched in partnership with MGM in November 2006. A statement from MGM and UA said that Wagner …

SYDNEY/AUCKLAND, August 14: Films from major studios such as Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros. Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios and Lionsgate are now available on the iTunes Store in Australia and New Zealand. Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Television International and …