Top Stories

LOS ANGELES: Marlene Sharp has been tapped as director of development at Rubicon Studios, where she will find IP for the company to develop across multiple platforms. Sharp will also be responsible for finding production and co-production partners on new and …

NEW YORK: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reports that the entertainment, media and communications sector continues to draw interest from private-equity funds and forecasts further acquisitions and investments. In its latest report on M&A activity, PwC notes that with high-profile acquisitions over the past …

STAMFORD: The U.S. taking on Algeria in the World Cup on Wednesday gave ESPN its highest ratings ever for a soccer match, delivering some 6.2 million viewers in its 10 a.m. to noon EST broadcast. The game also ranked as the highest-rated …

BRUSSELS: The European Commission is asking 12 member states, including Portugal, Poland and Greece, to update their broadcasting rules to comply with the Audiovisual Media Service (AVMS) Directive, which was to have been implemented by the end of 2009. The …

LONDON: The BBC’s IPTV venture with Arqiva, BT, Channel 4, Five, ITV and Talk Talk has been approved by the pubcaster’s governing body, with some conditions. BBC Trust has given the go-ahead to Canvas—which intends to develop and promote a common …

GLENDALE: The popular Good Luck Troll toy line from Dam Things in Denmark is headed to the big screen in a new feature film from DreamWorks Animation.  The brother-sister writing team of Adam Wilson and Melanie Wilson LaBracio will write …

NEW YORK: The Top 100 U.S. Cable & Satellite Channels guide delivers comprehensive information on the leading entertainment, factual and kids’ networks in the world’s largest television market, including programming and scheduling strategies, available slots and contact information. Whether you’re a …

BUDAPEST: BBC Worldwide has sold two prime-time dramas to TV3 in Russia, along with scoring a deal for more than 120 hours of programming with TBi in Ukraine. TV3 went for the first three seasons of Being Erica and seasons …

LOS ANGELES: Spain’s Zebra Produccionnes and France’s Rosnay International have signed up for the interactive format Thumb Wars from Engine Entertainment. Zebra and Rosnay will package the format for their respective markets to involve TV networks, advertising, sponsorship and digital …

LONDON: Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, which first made its mark in India on Star Plus, has found a new home on Sony Entertainment Television—with Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan due back to host—as part of a slew of new …