Top Stories

LOS ANGELES, November 15: ABC has given a pilot order to The Thick of It, a half-hour political comedy to be co-produced by BBC Worldwide and Sony Pictures Television along with Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz, according to reports. The …

MOUNTAIN VIEW, November 14: Google Inc. has closed its $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube, the popular online video-sharing site. “We are excited to have closed the acquisition in order to begin collaborating to offer the best in quality and depth …

LOS ANGELES, November 14: The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) presented highlights of the 2007 NATPE Conference & Exhibition that will be held January 15-18 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. The 2007 NATPE Conference & …

BRUSSELS, November 14: Countries of the European Union have begun an initiative to keep television advertising at current levels and to ban product placement from news and children’s programs. According to the AP, the proposed regulation calls for ads on …

LONDON, November 14: Discovery Networks Europe and Arts Alliance Media, Europe’s leading provider of digital film distribution services, have signed an agreement to offer video-on-demand content from Discovery Networks to consumers for download rental. Starting today, more 45 titles from …

BURBANK, November 14: Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services is launching Saturday Morning Forever as part Hanna-Barbera.com, offering two hours of cartoons per week made up of 80 percent classic Hanna-Barbara shorts and 20 percent original content. The site is targeted …

LOS ANGELES, November 14: Buena Vista Television has secured 14 of the 15 top markets in the U.S. for the off-network syndication of Grey’s Anatomy. The hit ABC series will launch in the fall of 2009 and the stations that …

OTTOWA, November 14: Amberwood Productions has sold all 39 half-hour episodes of the animated series The Secret World of Benjamin Bear to TV2 Norway. “TV2 is a great home for the series and we are delighted to be partnering with …

BUCHAREST, November 14: Romania’s Acasa TV, a cable channel that reaches 60 percent of the country’s households, has renewed its agreement with Globo TV International in a deal that covers 350 hours of TV Globo productions to be broadcast in …

NEW YORK, November 14: The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced the departure of Georges Leclere, senior VP for international outreach. Leclere will leave his position at the end of the year and will be available as …