Kristin Brzoznowski

NEW YORK: On the back of HBO's double Emmy wins for best drama and comedy and a record night for the network in terms of awards, CEO Richard Plepler talks exclusively to World Screen Newsflash about working with such a high caliber of talent on its original programming.

BURBANK: Bruce Rosenblum is joining Disney/ABC Television Group (DATG) under Ben Sherwood as part of a major reorganization of the company's TV portfolio.

PARIS: MIPCOM is launching its first-ever Diversity Summit, which includes a series of talks and panels to explore issues of diversity in entertainment, both on-screen and in the boardroom.

PARIS: A+E Networks' Sean Cohan, YouTube's Susanne Daniels and creator and executive producer Adi Hasak have been added to the roster of Media Mastermind Keynote speakers at MIPCOM.

SYDNEY: Australia's Free TV has called for the abolition of license fees "to ensure the future sustainability of the industry."

LOS ANGELES: Sonar Entertainment has made a number of appointments in an expansion of its global sales team, including tapping former Lionsgate exec Carol Eymery to head up EMEA.

STOCKHOLM: Lionsgate has set a deal with MTG that gives the company the global distribution rights for the comedy series Swedish Dicks, Viaplay's first original series.

SYDNEY: Seven West Media has secured a 33-percent stake in Draftstars, Australia’s leading daily fantasy sports start-up.

Global advertising expenditure is expected to grow 4.4 percent this year to reach $539 billion, ahead of the 4.1 percent previously forecast, according to Zenith’s new Advertising Expenditure Forecast. This upgrade is mainly due to stronger‐than‐expected growth in the U.S. Zenith expects U.S. network TV to return to growth this year (at 1 percent) after shrinking 5 percent last year, thanks to new spending by pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods companies and a strong upfront.

LONDON: According to a new survey, almost half (48 percent) of U.K. respondents that are Netflix customers claimed that they would pay a premium to be able to access content that is normally restricted to the U.S. audience.