Top Stories

CHICAGO: Playboy Enterprises has entered into a deal with a firm controlled by its founder, Hugh M. Hefner, to go private at $6.15 per share. The price to be paid by Icon Acquisition Holdings, a limited partnership controlled by Hefner, …

STOCKHOLM: Johan Kleberg, currently the COO of Canal+, is taking over as CEO of C More Entertainment/Canal+, as the current CEO, Jonas Eriksson, returns to Bonnier Broadcasting Entertainment as vice CEO. When Kleberg takes over as CEO, Canal+’s present sales …

NEW YORK: TVFormats.ws, the only website for the formats industry, is now live. TV Formats has launched its online destination TVFormats.ws as a stand-alone, state-of-the-art website, dedicated exclusively to news, video, features, interviews and profiles about the format business. Spun-off …

NEW YORK: The debut of the third season of Jersey Shore delivered 8.45 million total viewers, becoming MTV’s highest rated series telecast ever. The season three premiere averaged an 8.3 rating with the 12-to-34 demographic and 6.5 million viewers in …

LOS ANGELES: Dick Clark Productions (dcp) has filed a motion with a Los Angeles court seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against the company by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association over the Golden Globe Awards broadcast. "We have said from …

PASADENA: Lifetime Television is launching a trio of new reality series in February, alongside the recently announced Heidi Klum project Seriously Funny Kids and the TV movie Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy. The half-hour series Seriously Funny Kids …

PASADENA: A second season of 20 fresh episodes of the original series Storage Wars has been ordered by A&E Network, to premiere in the second quarter. The first season of Storage Wars to date has averaged 2.3 million total viewers. …

LOS ANGELES: The new documentary Silencing the Song: An Afghan Fallen Star, slated for a January 26 debut on HBO2, catches up with the young singer Setara, who was featured in the 2010 HBO doc Afghan Star. In Afghan Star, …

LOS ANGELES: HBO has picked up the new comedy Girls, created by and starring Lena Dunham, with executive producers Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner. Dunham (Tiny Furniture) wrote and directed the series pilot. She also executive produces along with Apatow and …

LOS ANGELES: The latest installment of Torchwood, being produced by BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Worldwide and Starz Entertainment, is set to premiere in July with new cast members that include Mekhi Phifer and Bill Pullman. Torchwood: Miracle Day will air on …