Top Stories

NEW YORK, December 7: In the run-up to NATPE, Entertainment Rights (ER) has secured the Latin American distribution rights for the new 2-D series Transformers Animated, set to debut in the U.S. in early 2008. ER has picked up the …

NEW YORK, December 7: Bravo has ordered second seasons of two reality series: the hairstyling competition Shear Genius and the interior design show Top Design. Magical Elves, the production outfit behind Top Chef and Project Runway, will be taking over …

NEW YORK, December 7: HDNet Fights will air the IFL (International Fight League) World Grand Prix Finals live on Saturday, December 29, the first time that live IFL programming has been broadcast in high definition. This is the first collaboration …

NASHVILLE, December 7: Cablevision Systems has added the country-music channel Great American Country (GAC) to its lineup, boosting the channel’s subscribers by 2 million. The deal makes the channel’s programming available to country music fans in parts of Long Island, …

LOS ANGELES, December 7: Jim Benson has been appointed as senior VP at The Lippin Group, the international public relations and marketing firm. Benson will be working with The Lippin Group’s corporate and emerging media clients domestically and abroad. He …

NEW YORK, December 7: James Murdoch is stepping down as the chief executive of BSkyB to succeed his father, Rupert Murdoch, as non-executive chairman of the satellite platform and take on the new role of chairman and chief executive for …

LONDON, December 7: Peter Orton, the founder and former chairman of HIT Entertainment, has passed away after a long battle with cancer. Orton retired from HIT in 2005 following its sale to Apax Partners. That same year, he was honored …

SANTA CLARA/LOS ANGELES, December 7: Macrovision, a provider of digital-content protection technologies, has reached a deal to acquire EPG-provider Gemstar-TV Guide International for $2.8 billion in cash and stock. Under the terms of the agreement, each share of Gemstar-TV Guide …

NEW YORK, December 7: British adventurer and environmentalist David de Rothschild has been tapped to host a new environmental series pilot produced by NBC's Peacock Productions for the Sundance Channel. Peacock Productions, NBC’s nonfiction production unit, has begun production on …

NEW YORK/BEAVERTON, December 6: The Nielsen Company and Digimarc Corporation are launching Nielsen Digital Media Manager, which aims to provide media companies with a reliable way of tracking their content online. The system will enable media companies, social networks, peer-to-peer …