World Screen

LONDON: BSkyB is removing its Sky Sports News channel from the Freeview lineup, making it exclusively a pay-TV channel. The move, a bid to boost subscription revenues, takes place later this year. From that point, Sky Sports News will be available …

LONDON: September Films has been commissioned by MTV to produce a documentary about the issue of teenage pregnancy, Baby High. The hour-long special is due to air in prime time this summer. The film will explore what it’s really like …

TORONTO: Discovery Channel Canada’s in-house production company, Exploration Production Inc. (EPI), has sold the entire library of Mighty Ships to Australia’s Seven Network and to Smithsonian Channel HD in the U.S. The deals cover three seasons (6×1 hour), a pilot …

NEW YORK: Epix is launching its online platform, EpixHD.com, as the first broad-scale deployment of subscriber authentication to enable online viewing. The service will be available first for Cox Communications and Mediacom Communications customers, followed by an introduction for Charter …

LONDON: MTV Networks International (MTVNI) has signed a number of new deals and renewals with Spain’s TVE, while in Latin America the company scored agreements for Nickelodeon branded blocks with Telenica in Nicaragua and Venevision in Venezuela. New deals with …

NEW YORK/LONDON: HISTORY HD continues to grow its European footprint, as AETN UK has secured carriage for the channel on the Maltese operator Melita. The standard-definition services launched on Melita in November 2008. The HD service features original series such as The …

LONDON: FremantleMedia Enterprises’ (FME) DISCOP lineup includes returning series and franchises, as well as new shows, across a number of genres, including drama, factual, comedy and entertainment. Among the shows on offer are season three of Merlin, which has been …

NEW YORK: Carl Icahn announced this morning that 13.2 percent of Lionsgate’s outstanding common shares have been tendered to him for $7 each, bringing his stake in the company to 31.8 percent. By the time the offer ended last night …

LOS ANGELES: Shine International has been appointed to handle the distribution for formats created and produced by Bischoff Hervey Entertainment Television (BHE TV). The deal follows Shine International’s distribution of BHE TV’s Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Champion Wrestling, which aired on CMT …

BANFF: Canada’s W Network has a slate of nine new original series in production for its fall and winter schedules, among them Come Dine With Me Canada. For the fall, series in production include All for Nothing, which follows two …