Top Stories

LOS ANGELES: Showtime has renewed The Tudors for its fourth and final season, to air in spring 2010, focusing on King Henry VIII’s relationships with his last two wives, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr. The pickup of another ten-episode season comes on …

LONDON: The licensing rights for Fifi and the Flowertots will revert back to Chapman Entertainment in May, while Target Entertainment Group continues to represent the property for international TV sales. Target and Chapman are ending their current partnership agreement, and …

LONDON: MTV Networks International has scored new slots with broadcasters in key markets across Europe for Nickelodeon programming, including Italia Uno in Italy and TVE in Spain. The Mediaset-owned Italian broadcaster opted for the live-action series iCarly and Drake & Josh …

WOODLAND HILLS: The independent distributor Osiris Entertainment, formed last year by filmmaker Evan Crooke, has acquired more than 400 films and other key assets from Westlake Entertainment. Osiris will handle the distribution rights to the newly acquired film library across all platforms. …

WASHINGTON, D.C.: National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) has signed on to co-produce the new HD series First Ascent with Sender Films, slated for launch on Nat Geo Adventure in the third quarter of this year. The six-part series follows top-level …

BURBANK: Production is under way on a new reality sports series, Next X, developed by Disney XD in association with ESPN, to debut across the new boy-skewing brand’s cross-platform services. The show features five of the world’s top professional action-sports …

TORONTO: Tricon Films & Television has closed a deal that sees Spanish outfit Redacción 7 producing a local version of Lone Eagle Entertainment’s game show Inside the Box, to air on Canal Sur 2. The game-show format plays off the …

NEW YORK: Former HBO executive Rishi Malhotra has been appointed as the president and COO of Saavn, a digital distributor of Bollywood entertainment, where he will oversee programming, distribution and strategic development. Saavn packages Bollywood movies, music and TV shows for digital platforms including …

PARIS/LONDON: Mitzi Berberi is taking on the role of head of legal and business affairs for Zodiak Entertainment Distribution, based in London with an office in Paris as well. Berberi will supervise and manage all legal activities for the company’s …

LONDON: Global ad expenditure is expected to fall 6.9 percent this year to $453.2 billion, according to ZenithOptimedia, which also forecasts a "slight recovery" of 1.5 percent in 2010 to $460 billion, followed by a 4.5-percent increase to $480.7 billion …