World Screen

FOSTER CITY: Select PlayStation 3 owners can now access Hulu’s new subscription offering from their gaming consoles, with a wider rollout slated for the coming months. Hulu Plus delivers a library of HD content from nearly 150 leading content companies …

LONDON: Fireworks International has lined up a range of broadcasters from around the globe for Spike TV’s Guys Choice, an homage to all things male-oriented. MTV in the U.K., Sky TV in New Zealand, ABS in the Philippines and MNet …

MOSCOW: FOX International Channels (FIC) has launched three of its networks—Fox Life, Fox Crime and Nat Geo Wild HD—on NTV-PLUS in Russia. The three channels will broadcast seven days a week, fully localized into Russian. Fox Life targets 25- to …

BOCA RATON: FriendFinder Networks, parent company of Penthouse, has offered to acquire rival Playboy Enterprises for $210 million, topping the $185 million privatization offer from Hugh Hefner. At the beginning of this week, the Playboy founder, backed by Rizvi Traverse Management, …

LISBON/BURBANK: MEO Series is a brand-new subscription video-on-demand service in Portugal, which at launch will feature programming from Warner Bros. International Branded Services’ WarnerTV. MEO subscribers will have access to content from the WarnerTV SVOD branded service, which includes comedies such as …

SCOTTSDALE: Worldwide shipments of Blu-ray players are expected to more than double between last year and this year, according to ABI Research, which forecasts more than 62.5 million shipments in 2011. In North America, standalone Blu-ray players are expected to …

LONDON: Chello Zone has secured further carriage for Fine Living Network and Zone Reality, which have now launched into Portuguese-speaking Africa on the MultiChoice platform. Through MultiChoice, the channels are available in English with Portuguese subtitles in Angola and Mozambique. …

NEW YORK: MTV Networks’ Logo has taken on the off-cable syndication rights for Nip/Tuck in a four-year licensing deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. This is the series’ premiere in syndication. The agreement includes all 100 episodes, set to launch …

LONDON: Icon Films has sold the second season of River Monsters to ITV1, while ITV Studios Global Entertainment scored deals on the series with ITV4 and TVNZ in New Zealand. ITV1 ordered a 7×30-minute version, to air later this year. …

LOS ANGELES: HBO has picked up the drama series Luck, starring Dustin Hoffman and exec-produced by David Milch and Michael Mann. The show is set in the world of horse racing, focusing on the owners, gamblers, jockeys and other gaming industry players. …