Top Stories

ENGLEWOOD, April 3: Liberty Media has increased its ownership stake in the leading U.S. satellite platform DIRECTV to more than 48 percent, with the acquisition of a further 78.3 million common shares. Liberty first secured the stake in the platform …

HILVERSUM, April 3: Endemol International has secured another raft of deals for a range of Talpa Media’s formats, including the game shows Divided and I Love My Country. Divided has been commissioned by RTL 4 in the Netherlands, and is …

NEW YORK, April 3: Ahead of its broadcast network competitors, NBC yesterday announced its 2008-09 programming grid, featuring renewals for ER, Lipstick Jungle and Friday Night Lights, among others, plus new series like a spinoff of The Office and Power’s …

LONDON, April 3: FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has inked more than 10 new deals for its Australian drama Satisfaction, including one with France’s M6. The 10-part drama has also been sold to Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Israel, Korea and New Zealand. Created …

ATHENS/BEIJING, April 3: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says it has concluded its tenth and final meeting with the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) and is “satisfied with renewed assurances” over a number of concerns, including the integrity of the live …

LONDON, April 3: Zodiak International has closed a raft of deals with international broadcasters and production companies in the days before MIPTV. The reality format Unexpected Visit has been renewed by Rene Stokvis Produkties in the Netherlands, following the success …

BRUSSELS, April 3: The European Commission has opened an investigation into the state aid proposed by the British government to assist Channel 4 in the digital transition process. The Commission will investigate whether this subsidy threatens to distort competition in …

LONDON, April 3: Fireworks International has closed a range of deals for titles from the Harmony Gold catalogue, including the flagship series Robotech. Robotech is a science-fiction anime offering, which was recently acquired by Warner Bros. for feature-film production in …

ATHENS, April 3: Recipients of the 67th Annual Peabody Awards, including 30 Rock and Dexter, were unveiled at a ceremony at the University of Georgia campus, and will be presented to winners on June 16 at a luncheon at New …

BUDAPEST, April 3: The premiere of Uri Geller’s The Successor delivered strong ratings for TV2 in Hungary, outperforming the channel’s average share by almost 30 percent. The local version of the show, which originated in Israel, is called A kiválasztott. …