Top Stories

WASHINGTON, October 2: Speaking with reporters on Friday, NBC Universal’s chairman and CEO, Bob Wright, dismissed speculation that he is set to leave the company soon, saying that the rumors were created by the News Corporation-owned New York Post. One …

MONTREAL, October 2: Distraction has added a new interactive scripted comedy format to its offerings: Via Verdi, from Italy’s Einstein Multimedia and Bobolone, which launched in June on Telecom Italia’s Rosso Alice and Alice Home TV and on TIM mobile …

BURBANK, October 2: Ugly Betty, ABC’s adaptation of the Colombian novela Betty la fea, has emerged as the highest-rated new show of the fall season, delivering 16.1 million viewers and a 4.9 rating and a 14 share in adults 18 …

LONDON, October 2: British independent Feelgood Fiction has notched up new deals in the U.S., including a pickup by HBO of the format rights to the Five and Paramount Comedy series Suburban Shootout. In addition, CBS has commissioned a pilot …

A Time of Reckoning Address by Bob Wright, Vice Chairman, GE, and Chairman and CEO, NBC Universal at a summit entitled Threatening Health, Safety, and Jobs: The True Cost of Counterfeiting and Piracy, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in …

LONDON, October 2: National Geographic Television International has signed on the BBC and NHK as co-production partners on its new blue-chip wildlife special Gabon: Eden On The Edge. Currently being made by the natural history unit at National Geographic Television, …

PARIS/CANNES, October 2: Anne Sweeney, the co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney-ABC Television Group, will deliver a keynote entitled “The Today and Tomorrow of TV and The New Entertainment Consumer” on the first day of MIPCOM …

MUNICH, October 2: Mediaset has picked up a further 100 episodes of Bavaria Media Television’s hit telenovela Storm Of Love for broadcast on Canale 5. Broadcast as Tempesta d’Amore, the show is currently one of the most popular afternoon programs …

ENGLEWOOD/NEWARK, October 2: Liberty Media Corporation has completed the final stage of its acquisition of IDT Entertainment. Liberty has taken control of the Australian and Canadian operations after assuming responsibility for the American and British operations in August. IDT Entertainment …

LONDON, October 2: Sky Travel in the U.K. has picked up the rights to All3Media International’s The Lion Man, about Craig Busch and his Zion Wildlife Gardens in New Zealand. Zion Wildlife Gardens is home to 14 Barbary Lions, seven …