Top Stories

PREMIUM: Almost 2,000 acquisitions executives from abroad screened upwards of 100 TV shows during the week-long L.A. Screenings. They came, they scoured, and, by and large, they went back home to finalize and find the financing for their shopping lists after viewing the 42 high-profile series contenders for broadcast networks in the States. Most of their time was spent in darkened theaters at the six Hollywood major studios, though many made side trips to HBO, Lionsgate, MGM, eOne, and Legendary to view disparate projects handled by these content providers. Giddiness is not in the DNA of foreign program buyers, though most came away not unpleased with what they saw, and, in the case of those with ongoing supply arrangements, what they have to take. Still, the pressures under which these folks operate has never been greater.

MONACO: The Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated actress Marg Helgenberger will receive the Crystal Nymph Award at the 56th edition of the Monte Carlo Television Festival.

PREMIUM: New procedurals from Sony Pictures Television and NBCUniversal were given high marks by several buyers as they near the end of the screenings in Los Angeles. After sessions on the Sony lot, multiple buyers throughout the week have told World Screen Newsflash that procedurals are the best bet for their linear channels back home and thus are pleased that Sony scored with a pick-up on NBC of spin-off Blacklist: Redemption, while several other acquisitions execs over at Universal have given high marks to the fourth installment of Dick Wolf’s Windy City-set dramas, Chicago Justice. Moreover, a number of buyers pointed to this or that “little gem,” as one called them, that they will earmark for discussion once back home. “Start-Up for Sony’s digital platform Crackle was really good,” suggested Anette Romer, the head of acquisitions and formats at Denmark’s TV2. The hour is set in Miami and toplines Martin Freeman of Fargo and Sherlock fame.

SEATTLE: Among the lineup for Amazon's next pilot season are The Interestings, adapted from Meg Wolitzer’s New York Times best seller, and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, a live-action show for kids based on Sid and Marty Krofft's classic 1970s Saturday morning series.

LOS ANGELES: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) has elevated two executives on its international television distribution team in EMEA.

NEW YORK: Izzet Pinto, Global Agency's founder and CEO, met with World Screen Newsflash to discuss the advantages of remaining an independent company, goals for the year ahead and what’s trending in the marketplace.

NEW YORK: Of all of CBS’s new fall shows, the reboot of the ’80s series MacGyver generated the most interest in social media, according to analysis from The WIT.

PREMIUM: With a dozen new prime-time series to license to foreign buyers this go-round, Twentieth Century Fox boasts by far the largest bundle of hopefuls on offer at the L.A. Screenings. The viewing sessions on that lot start each morning at 9 a.m. and do not wrap until 7 p.m. “The pilots we’ve seen today are [altogether] the best group of shows Fox has presented in the last five or six years—and I mean best for our viewers back home.” So opined David Shin, the president of Fox Networks Group Japan, whose channels in that key territory program an array of American series and movies.

LONDON: Alphabet (Google’s holding company) has increased its lead as the world’s largest media owner in the new ranking published by Zenith, with media revenues 166-percent above its nearest rival’s, Walt Disney.

SANTA MONICA: The strong performance of its television segment helped to boost Lionsgate’s fourth-quarter revenues to $791.2 million.