World Screen

TOKYO: The Tokyo TV Forum (TTVF), a new three-day pitching event in Japan, is launching on December 12, with a total of 21 projects to be presented to 20 commissioning editors and other experts from around the world. Almost 60 proposals were submitted to present to the panel for the …

SINGAPORE: MP & Silva has signed a deal with the Sociedad General de Produccion y Explotacion de Contenidos S.I. to distribute the rights of La Liga Spanish football in Vietnam until 2015. MP & Silva will be the exclusive distributor of three seasons of La Liga in Vietnam across all …

SHANGHAI: Youku.com and Tudou Holdings, China’s two largest operators of online video sites, are accusing each other of copyright infringements for running each other’s exclusive videos. Tudou is suing Youku for 150 million yuan ($24 million) in damages over pirating the exclusive rights to a popular Taiwanese entertainment show, Kangxi …

MUMBAI: Life OK is a new Hindi general-entertainment channel from Star India that will take the place of Star One starting December 18. The channel’s philosophy is "Life is Good." The actress Madhuri Dixit will be the narrator. Life OK will be launched in a three-day roadblock across Star India’s entire …

SYDNEY: ABC Commercial secured a number of program sales in 2011, both in the local and international marketplace, including a format option with Comedy Central in the U.S. The year’s deals featured the first-ever ABC Commercial program—the rugby documentary Cup Of Dreams—to air on Universal Sports Network in the U.S., …

SYDNEY: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) online catch-up service, ABC iview, has launched on the Xbox LIVE platform, delivering instant access to programs such as Upstairs Downstairs and Bananas in Pyjamas. Through Kinect for Xbox 360, users of ABC iview can search, browse and select programs to watch by using …

HONG KONG: Lionsgate and Saban Capital Group are aligning with Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures for a new Asian joint venture that will encompass a bouquet of pay-TV channels, including Celestial Movies, KIX and Thrill. Saban and Lionsgate have been partners in Tiger Gate Entertainment, the venture rolling out the KIX, KIX HD …

BEIJING: China has begun the trial run of its first 3D channel, operated by China Central Television (CCTV), which will formally launch the service during Chinese New Year on January 23. The channel will be viewable to those with 3D enabled televisions and those with HD digital TV sets. The …

NEW DELHI: Making a play for India’s lucrative regional channels business, Network18 is shelling out $400 million for the ETV portfolio of news and entertainment channels. With the ETV deal, Network18 takes 100-percent control of the Hindi-language news channels ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan and ETV Bihar, …

SYDNEY: Tony Iffland, who is currently the general manager of BBC Worldwide Australia, is joining SBS in April as the director of television and online content. Iffland will be responsible for SBS’s content strategy. His tasks include commissioning and acquiring content for the free-to-air channels as well as sports broadcasting. He …