Top Stories

LOS ANGELES, October 23: In May of next year, Fox Reality Channel will launch the tentatively titled The Academy, a series from Scott Sternberg Productions that follows recruits training to be deputy sheriffs in Los Angeles. Filming begins on October …

LOS ANGELES/MUNICH, October 23: Tandem Communications has entered into a co-production and distribution pact with Starz Media, with the first set of projects due to launch at the AFM: the SCI FI Channel series Painkiller Jane and an anthology of …

SAN FRANCISCO, October 20: Factual programming outfit Michael Hoff Productions (MHP) has named Ashley Adams as its new managing producer. Overseeing day-to-day production, Adams will manage all of MHP’s teams who are currently producing more than 30 hours of factual …

PARIS, October 20: The final tally of this year’s MIPCOM puts attendance at 12,509, its highest participation ever, showing a 7-percent increase on MIPCOM 2005. This year also marked a new record in terms of participating companies, with 4,216 from …

CHESEAUX/ENGLEWOOD, October 20: The Kudelski Group, which specializes in digital security systems, has reached a deal to acquire a controlling interest in the interactive television technology outfit OpenTV from Liberty Media for $132.3 million. OpenTV is a provider of set-top …

NEW YORK, October 20: NBC Universal’s wide-ranging NBCU 2.0 restructure announced yesterday will see the NBC network focusing on lower-cost, unscripted programming for its weeknight 8 p.m. slot, beginning in the fall of next year. The restructure is intended to …

WINNIPEG, October 20: CanWest Global Communications Corp. has retained Citigroup Global Markets to explore the possibility of offloading its interest in Network Ten in Australia, in the wake of the country’s newly liberalized media ownership laws. “CanWest has retained Citigroup …

LONDON, October 20: Subscribers of the British cable platform ntl Telewest now have access to a slate of programming from Channel 4 on an on-demand basis, the two companies announced today. The platform’s 2.8 million digital cable subscribers will have …

BURBANK, October 20: The CW Network has given full-season orders to the freshman comedy The Game and the returning drama 7th Heaven, both of which are distributed by CBS Paramount International Television. Retaining 95 percent of its Girlfriends lead-in among …

HOLLYWOOD, October 20: The Jim Henson Company is in development on a full-length feature inspired by the classic 1980s TV show Fraggle Rock. The untitled film will take the Fraggles—Gobo, Wembley, Mokey, Boober and Red—on an adventure outside of Fraggle …