Top Stories

CANNES: Speaking to the press at MIPTV this morning, Tony Cohen, the CEO of FremantleMedia, outlined the company’s strategy for weathering the economic downturn, with plans to continue investments in top-quality content and eyeing further acquisitions following the purchase of …

CANNES/COPENHAGEN/NEW YORK: Localized Sesame Workshop programming, including Play With Me Sesame and Elmo’s World, is set to launch as part of a block on Denmark’s TV 2 this fall. The as-yet-unnamed block, consisting of two seasons (80×30 minutes) is scheduled to …

CANNES: Through a broadcast license agreement with Red Media Group, all 52 episodes of Junk Brothers, a furniture renovation series from Knight Enterprises, will now be available on Internesnoe TV in Russia and the Baltic States. The show features transformations …

NEW YORK/LONDON: The History Channel in the U.K. has named Christina Foley as commercial director, reporting to Tom Davidson, the managing director. Based in London, Foley takes up her new post with immediate effect. She replaces Ian McDonough, who left …

CANNES/MUNICH: France 2 is slated to launch SevenOne International’s "sciencetainment" series Clever! in a daily, 6 p.m. time slot, under the title Incroyables Expériences. Starting April 6, the French broadcaster will air a 45-minute version of the show, which will …

CANNES: Zodiak Entertainment has firmed up license deals in Asian territories and a new option in Australia for the music format Twist & Shout. The prime-time entertainment series has been optioned by Nine Network in Australia, and was also picked …

CANNES: Discovery Enterprises International, which is at MIPTV this week with more than 800 hours of new programming, has expanded the global reach of Deadliest Catch and Man Vs. Wild. The shows are among the highest-rated series on Discovery Channel around the …

NEW YORK: Univision Communications, the leading Spanish-language media company in the U.S., has posted losses for both the fourth quarter and full year 2008. For the fourth quarter of 2008, net revenue declined 7.8 percent to $502.1 million from $544.3 …

CANNES: Saku Tuominen joins Zodiak Entertainment as the new chief creative officer of its entertainment group. Tuominen will head up the entertainment central creative unit of Zodiak, reporting to Giorgio Gori, the senior VP. Tuominen was previously the chief creative …

CANNES: ITV Global Entertainment has expanded the global reach of the MTV series Old Skool, while also taking on the distribution rights to a new series for the Viacom-owned channel, called How’s Your News? How’s Your News?, from South Park’s Trey Parker …