Top Stories

LONDON, September 8: Liberty Global’s Chellomedia has acquired a further 55 percent stake in the Central European channel Sport1 for 43 million euros in cash, bringing its interest up to 80 percent. Sport1 currently packages and distributes sports programming in …

SEATTLE, September 8: Amazon.com has launched Amazon Unbox, a digital video download service delivering TV shows, movies and other content from more than 30 partners in the U.S. and around the world. The service promises DVD-quality picture, and allows customers …

LONDON, September 8: The Disney Channel original movie High School Musical is set to soon air on 15 terrestrial broadcasters across Europe, including in Italy, Germany, France and Russia. The new deals announced by Buena Vista International Television follow the …

NEW YORK, September 8: BBC America has picked up the rights to a new documentary series, a crime drama and a prime-time soap for launch in November. The 7×1-hour Paparazzi, from BBC Worldwide Americas, is a documentary series about Darryn …

TORONTO, September 8: Corus Entertainment’s Western Canadian service Movie Central has agreed to pre-license 24 new titles from Peace Arch Entertainment Group. In addition to the 24-title commitment, Movie Central has also pre-licensed the ManEater feature films consisting of six …

LOS ANGELES, September 8: Several Fox Interactive Media sites, including MySpace.com and FOX.com, are offering up the first 7 minutes of the first episode of The Simpsons’ 18th season, in advance of its television launch this weekend. Through a campaign …

LONDON, September 7: Virgin Mobile has unveiled the first broadcast mobile-TV service for the U.K., delivering BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4’s made-for-mobile channel, Channel 4 Short Cuts, and E4, beginning October 1. The service, which is provided by BT’s wholesale …

NEW YORK, September 7: A new study from JupiterResearch has found that while 11 percent of mobile phones will be video capable by the end of this year, just 1 percent of subscribers will actually be willing to pay for …

SAN FRANCISCO, September 7: In a survey of several European markets, Telephia found that FIFA World Cup mobile content was most popular among Italian subscribers, followed by Germany and then France. Telephia’s Q3 2006 European Subscriber and Device Report (ESDR) …

NEW YORK, September 7: CBS is hailing the early success of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, which has been the top network news broadcast for the past two nights. The premiere of the CBS Evening News with Katie …