World Screen

LONDON: Despite heavy declines in ad revenue, Channel 4 was able to break even in 2009, thanks to cost-cutting efforts and an increased contribution from digital activities. The British broadcaster reported a surplus of £300,000, with profit contribution of £53.4 …

LONDON: Peter Bazalgette, a media consultant and former chief creative officer of Endemol, has been appointed as the president of the Royal Television Society (RTS), while Mike Darcey, the COO of BSkyB, has been elected chair of the board of …

LONDON: UKTV has reunited Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, who have worked together on shows such as Blackadder and the comedy showcase A Bit of Fry and Laurie, for the first time in 15 years in a one-off special, commissioned …

NEW YORK: CKx, the company that owns 19 Entertainment, has implemented a stockholder rights plan after receiving interest from an unnamed third party for the acquisition of a minority interest in the company. According to CKx, the interested party is in …

LONDON: BBC Worldwide has firmed up a package deal with Film4 Productions that sees BBC Entertainment taking on a selection of classic British independent movies.  The six-week long movie season will launch a new film every Sunday at 10 p.m. …

SILVER SPRING: Investigation Discovery has announced the creation of an all-new independent documentary strand, ID Films, which will provide quarterly premieres.  The first ID Films documentary is the previously announced Cropsey, which will make its world TV debut on August …

LONDON/KUALA LUMPUR: Astro Entertainment and Endemol Asia have teamed up for a joint venture that is aimed at the creation and development of new programming for the Malaysian market.  The join venture will have access to Endemol’s global portfolio, looking to …

LONDON: The Swedish TV production company Blu has been formally renamed FremantleMedia Sweden.  “The company started as a subsidiary of Blu Denmark, and although our name has always been FremantleMedia Sweden, we originally chose to call ourselves Blu," said Claes Leinstedt, …

NEW YORK/LONDON: AETN UK has secured a new carriage deal for HISTORY in Central Europe, with Bulgarian DTG operator Total TV.  This builds on existing carriage for HISTORY in Central Europe in territories such as Poland, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, …

NEW YORK: Scripps Networks International has signed a deal with StarHub to launch Food Network Asia in Singapore, scoring the channel’s first Asian carriage.  Food Network Asia is scheduled to launch July 5 in StarHub’s Lifestyle Basic Group, at no …