Top Stories

EL SEGUNDO, August 25: The merger of Sky Brasil and DIRECTV Brasil is now complete, with the DIRECTV Group owning 74 percent of the combined DTH platform and Globo Comuniçacão e Participações holding 26 percent. The DIRECTV Group will control …

NEW YORK, August 25: As part of a promotional efforts for its key freshman and returning series, CBS has entered into deals with Warner Bros. Television and Twentieth Century Fox Television to stream several shows for free on its broadband …

NEW YORK, August 25: Hispanics and Asian Americans are the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population, according to Nielsen Media, posting a 3.6 percent rise in television households over the 2005-2006 season. For the 2006-2007 season, Hispanic TV households …

ENGLEWOOD/NEWARK, August 25: Liberty Media Corporation has completed the first stage of its acquisition of IDT Entertainment, taking control of the American and select international operations. IDT Corporation’s sale of the Canadian and Australian operations to Liberty Media will occur …

ENGLEWOOD/BURBANK, August 25: DISH Network has reached an agreement with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group to offer a slate of the studio’s features on its VOD platform. The satellite operator’s DISH On Demand service will deliver current and catalogue titles …

LONDON, August 25: The British version of The Apprentice, featuring Sir Alan Sugar, will move to BBC One next year following two successful seasons on BBC Two. The Apprentice, produced by talkbackTHAMES, will move to BBC One while The Apprentice: …

LOS ANGELES/PARIS, August 25: The Tennis Channel has entered into a multi-year agreement with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) for the exclusive U.S. non-broadcast network rights to Roland Garros (the French Open), beginning next year. This is The Tennis Channel’s …

MONTREAL, August 25: Distraction has notched up a number of new deals in the U.S. market—including one for an adaptation of its hit scripted format Love Bugs—since setting up its office in Los Angeles under executive sales director Rob Kaplan. …

ST. LOUIS/NEW YORK, August 25: Sesame Workshop will create Sesame Street-themed attractions in four theme parks operated by Busch Entertainment Corp., which already operates the Sesame Place theme park in Pennsylvania. The new attractions will be set up at SeaWorld …

LONDON, August 25: Five has named Nick Thorogood as the controller of its new digital channels, Five Life and Five US, both of which launch this fall. Thorogood begins his new role in September. Until earlier this year, he was …