Top Stories

LONDON, August 28: NBC Universal has confirmed its acquisition of Sparrowhawk Media, owner of the Hallmark Channels outside of the U.S., from Providence Equity Partners, 3i and management shareholders. The deal gives NBC Universal control of 18 feeds of international …

LUXEMBOURG, August 28: The RTL Group’s revenues for the first half of this year rose 1.3 percent to 2.9 billion euros, with profit up just 0.8 percent to 358 million euros and a half-year EBITA of 515 million euros, a …

STOCKHOLM/LONDON, August 28: Zodiak Television has announced plans to acquire the British production and distribution firm Bullseye TV, which will take on the rights to Zodiak Television World’s assets, moving the Scandinavian company’s distribution activities from Copenhagen to London. The …

TORONTO, August 28: The third season of Rhombus Media’s drama series Slings & Arrows leads the nominations for the 22nd Annual Gemini Awards, which will be presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television at the Conexus Arts Centre …

LOS ANGELES, August 28: E! Entertainment Television has launched E! News Now, a new multiplatform series that offers viewers at least 12 video news reports per day via broadband and mobile. On broadband, the new series will be available on …

LONDON, August 28: British newspaper publisher Telegraph Media Group (TMG) has teamed up with Internet TV service Brightcove for the delivery of new online video channels featuring news and entertainment programming. Located at the newspaper’s website, telegraph.co.uk, the channels will …

VAN NUYS, August 28: Production has wrapped on The Lost Treasure of Ugarit, co-produced by American Cinema International and Oasis Entertainment, that is set to launch worldwide at the American Film Market in November. The 3×90-minute mini-series, shot on location …

HILVERSUM, August 28: Endemol International has optioned five of its formats to the Korean production company Olive9 ahead of the Broadcast Worldwide (BCWW) 2007 conference in Seoul. The deal includes the international game show Set for Life, which has aired …

LONDON, August 28: British animation company Joella Productions has appointed BBC Worldwide as international program sales and merchandising agent for its 26×12-minute CGI-animated series Underground Ernie. Under the deal, BBC Worldwide has secured the cross-media rights for the series, including …

KUALA LUMPUR, August 28: Becoming a King, the first of two high-definition documentaries produced from a fund established by National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) and the National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia (FINAS), premiered this week on National Geographic Channel …