World Screen

EL SEGUNDO, August 8: Second quarter profit at The DIRECTV Group more than doubled to $458.7 million, on revenues of $3.52 billion, a 10-percent gain on the year-ago period. For the first half of the year, meanwhile, revenues rose from …

CHICAGO, August 7: Charles Hirschhorn, the founder and former CEO of the G4 video-gaming network, has been elected to the board of directors at Playboy Enterprises. Hirschhorn is currently the founding partner of Fountain Productions, which produces theatrical motion pictures, …

BRISTOL, August 8: Tigress Productions has been commissioned by British broadcaster Five to produce Game Reserve Diaries, a series chronicling the daily activities at a game preserve in Kenya. The series will be composed of ten 45-minute episodes and will …

NEW YORK, August 7: iD Distribution has licensed Farther Than The Eye Can See, a documentary from Rainbow Media’s Rush HD channel, to the BBC. The special will air on August 13 at 9 p.m. as part of the BBC’s …

WALTHAM, August 7: The entertainment portal LYCOS is teaming with IPTV platform PermissionTV for Update Hollywood, delivering on-demand film clips, behind the scenes footage and celebrity interviews. Available at www.updatehollywood.com/player.html, Update Hollywood gives LYCOS viewers free access to the movie …

LONDON/NEW YORK, August 7: BBC America has picked up a raft of titles from Fremantle International Distribution, including the 90-minute documentary special Beatles Biggest Secrets, the psychological thriller A Good Murder and the comedy Hardware. The package also covers all …

SYDNEY, August 7: Network Ten has ceased production on the Screentime reality show Yasmin's Getting Married due to low ratings. “TEN has a reputation for taking risks with new formats,” said TEN's chief programming officer, David Mott. "While we all …

SANTA MONICA/BURBANK, August 7: Lionsgate has entered into a multiyear VOD deal for TVN Entertainment to distribute titles from its movie library. The agreement encompasses all new release movies and product from Lionsgate's library of more than 7,500 motion picture …

LONDON, August 7: Disney Channel is expanding its reach to Southern and sub-Saharan Africa, securing carriage on the MultiChoice DStv platform. Disney launches on the service next month, reaching more than 1.3 million subscribers. The channel will be broadcast on …

LONDON, August 7: The 3.5 million customers who subscribe to the 3 mobile service in the U.K. will be able to watch ITV1 and the interactive channel ITV Play live on their handsets, beginning this fall. This will be the …