World Screen

SHERMAN OAKS: Leeza Gibbons is to join Bill Rancic as co-host for America Now, a daily news program from Raycom Media and ITV Studios America. The show launches as a daily first-run series starting this fall. America Now has been …

MUNICH: m4e has firmed up additional broadcast and licensing deals for the series Mia and Me, slated for launch in spring 2012. The live-action/CGI animation series is from Lucky Punch (a joint venture between m4e AG and Gerd Hahn) in …

PARIS: A fifth season of Moonscoop’s hit show Code Lyoko is in the works, this time with a live-action and 3D version. France Television and Canal J are co-production partners on the fifth season, which will feature 26 half-hour episodes. …

LOS ANGELES: A number of DVD and licensing deals are in place across Latin America for Toei Animation’s Dragon Ball Z and Saint Seiya. For Dragon Ball Z, Chenson in Mexico is on board for backpacks, while Superbrands of Brazil …

SILVER SPRING: TLC is to spotlight passionate sweepstakes participants in the new one-hour pilot tentatively titled High Stakes Sweepers. Production is set to begin next week, with a premiere slated for this summer. High Stakes Sweepers will tell the story …

ATLANTA: TNT has scored the off-net cable rights to the hit series Castle, which heads into its fourth season on ABC this fall. The deal with Disney-ABC Domestic Television brings the procedural crime drama starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic to TNT in …

ABU DHABI: Malcolm Wall, who formerly headed up the content segment at Virgin Media, has been tapped as CEO of Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), effective September 1. Wall fills a position that has been vacant since Ed Borgerding’s exit earlier …

LONDON: Over the next three years, BSkyB intends to increase its annual commitment to British content by more than 50 percent to £600 million, chief executive Jeremy Darroch said in a speech yesterday. Speaking at an event organized by the …

NEW YORK: WPP-owned GroupM has implemented a new policy that blocks its clients’ ads from appearing on websites that distribute pirated content. The new GroupM policy includes anti-piracy language for insertion orders that prohibits vendors from placing the agency’s clients’ …

PREMIUM: As head of acquisitions for BSkyB in the U.K., Sarah Wright is on the lookout for a variety of genres to satisfy the programming needs of Sky1, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic and Sky Arts. Besides offering subscribers the best …