Top Stories

LONDON, June 21: British cable network LIVING has commissioned Granada Entertainment to produce a brand new ten-part reality series, Dirty Dancing: The Time of Your Life, for premiere this fall. The new series coincides with the film’s twentieth anniversary, and …

NEW YORK, June 21: News Corporation said today that it is exploring strategic options for its Moscow-based out-of-home advertising company, News Outdoor Group, including taking on new “strategic and private equity partners.” News Outdoor has a leadership position in Russia …

LONDON, June 21: Granada International has taken on the international distribution rights to the new TV movie My Boy Jack, commissioned by ITV1 and starring Daniel Radcliffe and Kim Cattrall. The 95-minute feature from Ecosse Films is based on a …

NEW YORK, June 21: GE Commercial Finance’s Media, Communications & Entertainment business and NBC Universal have appointed Thomas M. Byrne as the managing director of their $250-million newly branded Peacock Equity Fund. Peacock Equity is a joint venture between GE’s …

BEVERLY HILLS/MUMBAI, June 21: Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox L&M) has partnered with STAR India for the creation of StarFox India, a new licensing division that aims to maximize the penetration of both Fox and STAR’s film and …

ENGLEWOOD, June 21: Belgian Cable Investors, controlled by Liberty Global, has exercised its option to acquire a further 18.668 million shares in Belgian cable operator Telenet Group Holding for 466.7 million euros. The deal increases Liberty’s interest in Belgium’s largest …

HOLLYWOOD, June 21: Cinamour Entertainment has reached a distribution deal to bring the new half-hour celebrity court reality series Jury Duty to international markets. The deal was reached with the series’ producer and creator Vincent Dymon. Jury Duty premieres September …

CUPERTINO, June 21: Users of Apple’s soon-to-be-launched iPhone will be able to access YouTube content directly on their handsets. Set to be released June 29, the iPhone will feature YouTube content wirelessly streamed to the device, which features a 3.5-inch …

LOS ANGELES, June 21: MarVista Entertainment arrived at DISCOP this week with several deals already concluded in the region, including licensing more than a dozen movies to Zonemedia’s Zone Romantica channel in Eastern Europe. Zonemedia acquired more than a dozen …

LONDON, June 21: All3Media has expanded its portfolio of independent British production houses with the acquisition of Maverick Television. Based in Birmingham and London, the company was founded in 1993 by Jonnie Turpie. It currently has two peak time series …