Top Stories

NEW YORK: Michel Rodrigue, who serves as a distribution consultant for Engine Entertainment’s format division, talks in this video interview about the global appeal of the interactive format Thumb Wars and how its use of technology lends itself to built-in …

HONG KONG: A report from Media Partners Asia (MPA) and Charles River Associates (CRA) has identified "potential flaws" in the new cross-carriage rules for Singapore’s pay-TV sector. The new rules, announced in March, require that pay-TV players SingTel and StarHub …

LONDON: The newly created role of director of CBeebies Investment is to be filled by Henrietta Hurford-Jones, who will be responsible for developing and investing in new original content for the channels internationally. She will manage the global investment process …

BURBANK: Jimmy Blackburn has taken on the role of VP of programming research for Disney Channels Worldwide, after spending the past ten years at Nickelodeon, where he was most recently senior director of kids and family audience research. Blackburn is …

LONDON: Lee Bartlett and Remy Blumenfeld are both exiting ITV Studios as part of a management restructure that sees Maria Kyriacou coming in to run the global entertainment division. Bartlett joined the British broadcasting group in 2008 to run its British …

NEW YORK/LONDON/BARCELONA: 41 Entertainment (41e) has unveiled a new property, Blake: Double Identity, which it has slated for a fall 2011 release. The 26×24-minute series will be co-produced with TOONF. Andy Briggs will write, while Eric Robert directs. The property …

NEW YORK: Sunil Shahani, previously with leading Indian production firm Balaji Telefilms, is joining Scripps Networks International to drive the company’s entry into the Indian television market. The appointment comes two months after Scripps and NDTV called off their Indian JV deal. The …

PARIS: The first keynote address on the schedule for MIPCOM is Facebook’s VP for EMEA, Joanna Shields, who will share her thoughts on how social media interacts with the entertainment industry. Shields will map out the business models for content …

HONG KONG: FOX International Channels has entered into a deal with Asia Television (aTV) to launch Baby TV programming in a half-hour block every weekday on the free-to-air broadcaster in Hong Kong. Starting at 9:30 a.m. every weekday, Baby TV …

PARIS: Dominique Poussier is leaving her post as the director of kids’ programming at TF1 in October, to be replaced by Yann Labasque, currently the development director at TF1 Enterprises. Poussier, who has been in her current role since 1997, …