World Screen

TORONTO, January 15: Cosmopolitan Television expands its reach into Canada next month in an alliance between Hearst Corporation and Corus Entertainment. The channel, based on the bestselling women’s magazine, is slated to launch in Canada on February 14, joining existing …

STOCKHOLM, January 15: Modern Times Group’s Viasat Broadcasting has launched its high-definition television offering on its Nordic satellite pay-TV platform, featuring, among others, two Viasat-branded channels, TV1000 HD and Viasat Sport HD. The initial lineup of Viasat’s HDTV channels consists …

LOS ANGELES, January 15: The principal cast members of Disney Channel’s High School Musical and High School Musical 2 have signed on for Walt Disney Pictures’ upcoming theatrical feature High School Musical 3: Senior Year, with production slated to begin …

LOS ANGELES, January 15: The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has scored another deal with an independent studio, inking an interim agreement with the film, television and digital-media outfit Media Rights Capital (MRC). “This is an exciting agreement that will …

NEW YORK, January 15: Toshiba has cut the prices of its HD DVD players in a bid to step up its fight against Sony’s Blu-ray format. Following Warner Bros.’ decision last week to exclusively back Blu-ray, industry spectators have been …

PARIS, January 15: Japanese pubcaster NHK will be the first company to receive a Green World Award at MIPTV, in recognition of its continued commitment to raising public awareness on environmental issues. With Japan being named the country of honor …

NEW YORK/BEIJING, January 15: ESPN has teamed with four Chinese media companies to make a $253-million investment in NBA China, a new entity to handle all of the basketball league’s activities in the lucrative market. ESPN, Bank of China Group …

LOS ANGELES, January 15: Four Hollywood studios have cancelled a host of writers’ contracts, according to the Los Angeles Times, placing the development of new shows for the 2008-09 season in further jeopardy as the Writers Guild of America strike …

FRANKFURT, January 15: Leo Kirch has reportedly doubled his damages claim against Deutsche Bank and its former chief executive, Rolf Breuer. Last June, Kirch filed suit against Deutsche Bank and Breuer, seeking 1.2 billion euros in damages. Published reports indicate …

SILVER SPRING/CHICAGO, January 15: Discovery Communications and Oprah Winfrey have entered into a joint venture for the 2009 rollout of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, which at launch will have distribution in 70 million U.S. homes, replacing Discovery Health. The …