Top Stories

LONDON: UKTV has picked up the U.S. version of Who Do You Think You Are? from Outright Distribution for its family entertainment channel Watch. UKTV now holds the exclusive U.K. multichannel and non-linear broadcast rights for the show, which will premiere …

NEW YORK: Total advertising expenditures in the U.S. fell by 12.3 percent to $125.3 billion last year, reports Kantar Media, but the decline did slow towards the end of the year, with Q4 ad spending down just 6 percent on the year-ago …

SINGAPORE: The general-entertainment pay-TV channel AXN is to launch in high definition in Southeast Asia this May. AXN HD has already secured carriage on two platforms in Southeast Asia, with details to be announced soon. The HD version of AXN is …

LONDON: Weird or What?, produced by Cineflix Productions and distributed outside the U.S. by Cineflix International, will receive its MIPTV launch with the iconic William Shatner on hand to present the new show. In the series, Shatner will investigate and analyze …

LONDON: The high-definition version of Five is to start broadcasting to more than 2 million Sky+HD homes this July. Five’s lineup includes the U.S. dramas CSI and FlashForward, soaps such as Neighbours and Home & Away, international cricket and live …

NEW YORK: Hallmark Channel has acquired the exclusive license for the domestic TV rights to a range of lifestyle programming from the library of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) to air as part of its soon-to-launch seven-hour home and lifestyle …

PARIS: Toei Animation has named Edebé Audiovisual Licensing as its broker to handle licensing in Spain for the TV series Dr. Slump–Arale. Edebé will be responsible for merchandising rights, except publishing, for Spain and Andorra territories. The 243×26-minute comedy is …

MUMBAI: Fox STAR Studios is teaming up with Rohan Sippy Entertainment for the project Dum Maaro Dum, produced by Ramesh Sippy and directed by Rohan Sippy. Dum Maaro Dum reunites Rohan Sippy and Abhishek Bachchan. The film marks the second …

LONDON: RDF Media’s The Foundation has announced the recommission of Basil and Barney’s Swap Shop for a third season of 26 hour-long episodes for CBBC. The series heads back to CBBC on BBC Two later this year. The series features Basil …

HERNDON: RCN Corporation has added two new Spanish-language channels to its Hispanic Cable TV program packages: VeneMovies and Semillitas. VeneMovies is a commercial-free film channel that broadcasts the best contemporary films. It will be offered as part of RCN’s MiVisión Plus …