Top Stories

LONDON, August 7: 3DD Productions has licensed its high-definition music series London Live to Virtual Life, a channel from the online virtual world Second Life. London Live will be the first music show to appear on Virtual Life. Available to …

HILVERSUM, August 7: After making a public offering last month, Edam Acquisition, the Mediaset-led consortium that acquired Telefónica’s 75-percent stake in Endemol, now owns 99.54 percent of the format giant. Edam consists of Mediaset, John De Mol’s Cyrte Investments and …

KNOXVILLE, August 7: Scripps Networks Interactive has appointed Jody Jones as its senior VP, where she will oversee the day-to-day operations of Scripps Networks’ lifestyle websites and broadband channels, reporting to the interactive group’s president, Deanna Brown. Among the properties …

CHICAGO, August 7: Playboy Enterprises has emerged from last year’s second-quarter loss of $3.3 million to deliver a profit of $1.9 million on revenues of $85.7 million, up from $80.5 million in the year-ago period. “This quarter's results underscore our …

HONG KONG, August 7: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the exclusive Hong Kong broadcast rights for the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012 to cable platform i-CABLE Communications. The IOC has also awarded i-CABLE …

BURBANK, August 7: NBC’s summer hits America’s Got Talent and Last Comic Standing will be returning next year for a third and sixth season respectively. “Both of these innovative series have proven to be summer staples and important franchises for …

NEW YORK, August 7: The Weinstein Company (TWC) has launched a $285 million fund that will fully finance the development, production, acquisition, marketing and distribution of a large slate of Asian-themed films over the next six years. TWC anticipates producing …

SYDNEY, August 7: Australian terrestrial Network Ten has signed a retransmission agreement with FOXTEL, placing the channel in the digital platform’s electronic program guide (EPG). Consumers will be able to tap into all of FOXTEL’s functionality when viewing TEN, including …

NEW YORK, August 7: Worldwide Biggies, the digital entertainment studio founded by former Nickelodeon and Spike TV chief Albie Hecht, has secured $9 million in Series A financing, led by NBC Universal and Platform Equity. This round of funding also …

NEW YORK, August 7: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s award-winning British comedy The Office has scored several digital deals in the U.S., bringing it to BBC America On Demand, Netflix.com and Vuze.com. Beginning this summer, two seasons of six half-hour …