World Screen

BUENOS AIRES: The Russian version of Telefe International’s Final Minute has launched on REN TV, while The Successful Mr. and Mrs. Pells will be released with its local treatment in the country on CTC on January 31. The original version …

NEW YORK: A new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers indicates that merger-and-acquisitions (M&A) activity in the U.S. media-and-entertainment business outpaced the overall deal market in 2010, with the increasing prominence of digital media setting the stage for even more M&As in 2011. The …

TEL-AVIV: Dori Media Group’s subsidiary Dori Media Spike (DMS) has signed a three-year extension of its agreement with Israeli cable platform HOT, while also selling a new series channel to YES. HOT will continue to carry the general-entertainment channels for …

SILVER SPRING: Investigation Discovery (ID) has placed a three-episode order for Cleaning Up, a series that spotlights the unique business of crime-scene cleanups, from New Wave Entertainment. The docu-series centers on Neal Smither, his wife Lindy, and their company, Crime …

SÃO PAULO: Globo TV International has nine more episodes to add to the GloboDOC series, following on the success of the previous two seasons. GloboDOC is a series that offers a Brazilian perspective on Brazil. Themes cover culture, popular festivals, …

UNIVERSAL CITY: Will Ferrell has signed on to guest star in a few episodes of NBC’s The Office, playing a branch manager who is just as inappropriate as outgoing Dunder Mifflin boss Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell. Ferrell and …

LONDON: Jean-Philippe Randisi, most recently with Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products, is joining ITV Studios Global Entertainment to fill the newly created position of executive VP and director of consumer products. Reporting to Maria Kyriacou, managing director of ITV Studios Global …

LONDON: Mediaset Italia, the European conglomerate’s international Italian-language channel, will be represented across EMEA and Asia by Chello Zone. The service, targeting Italian expats, broadcasts general entertainment, news, drama, sitcoms and other library content. “We are very happy to have come …

PHILADELPHIA: Comcast is launching a new service in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) delivering information about missing children in the U.S. Missing Kids On Demand and online (at xfinity.com/news/missingkids) is intended to enable Comcast …

SINGAPORE: Singaporean broadcasting group MediaCorp is set to introduce a new multiplatform service in the second half of the year that will deliver content and services over a broadband connection to the TV set, computers, tablets and mobile phones. The service …