World Screen

LONDON: A fifth season of the fantasy drama Merlin has been ordered by the BBC. The fifth-season commission of Merlin, produced and created by Shine TV with FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) as distributor outside the U.K., was announced at Comic-Con yesterday. …

SILVER SPRING: ITN Productions is working on a fast-turnaround news documentary for Discovery Networks International about the tragic shootings that took place on July 22 in Norway. Norway Massacre: The Killer’s Mind will air on Discovery Channel in Europe, the …

LONDON: The newly unveiled fall lineup for Sky 1 HD includes a number of new comedy commissions, including Starlings, executive produced by Steve Coogan. The 8×1-hour sitcom Starlings is from Baby Cow Productions, with founders Coogan and Henry Normal as …

MUNICH: Red Arrow Entertainment Group has extended its exclusive agreement with Dutch format developer Dick de Rijk, a partnership which has already delivered the hit reality game show You Deserve It. Through the new multi-year pact, Red Arrow holds the …

TOKYO: NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation has made the move to digital, switching off analogue broadcasts in all areas of Japan except for those hit hardest by the recent earthquake and tsunami. After 58 years on the air, analogue broadcasting has …

LONDON: Revenues from the global sales of on-demand movies and TV programs are expected to reach $5.7 billion in 2016, up from $3.6 billion in 2010, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. The On-demand TV Forecasts report …

LONDON: Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg takes the top spot on the MediaGuardian 100 annual list of the most powerful people in media, while Rupert Murdoch fell from fourth place to sixth and son James dropped off the …

The first in a two-part series, TV Formats Weekly looks at Spanish companies that are successfully selling their formats around the globe. The Spanish TV market has been importing ideas from around the world for years, but as of late …

LONDON: Myar Craig-Brown has been named the executive producer of the drama production unit at ITV Studios, following the addition of Francis Hopkinson to the team as creative director. Craig-Brown will work with the drama team on the development and …

HILVERSUM: Wim ter Laak has been appointed the senior VP of programming strategy at RTL Nederland, to start in his new role on August 22. Ter Laak will advise Matthias Scholten, the executive director of content, as well as the …