World Screen

SINGAPORE: Celestial Tiger Entertainment has scooped up the exclusive broadcast premieres for three of the top winners from the Hong Kong Film Awards: Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, Life without Principle and A Simple Life. These movies will run first and exclusively on Celestial Movies in the second half of …

BERLIN: The Da Vinci Learning channel has been added to the Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) platform. The learning-focused channel combines entertainment and education, with a mission "to inform, entertain and inspire." Da Vinci Learning is available to more than 7 million subscribers in over 12 European countries. Topics covered including …

SINGAPORE: Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific and Tourism Malaysia will continue to collaborate on projects focused on promoting the country internationally. One such project is Revealed: Malaysia’s Majesty—Twice a King. The hour-long doc will chronicle the installation of DYMM Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah from the state of Kedah as Malaysia’s 14th …

MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network and the RTL Group have unveiled the branding of the soon-to-launch action channel from their joint venture BIG RTL service: Thrill. The channel, dubbed in Hindi, will launch in India by the end of June. Thrill will target males 15 to 44. The channel will air genres …

SYDNEY: Bruce Mann is leaving his post as the CEO of XYZnetworks, where he has spent a decade leading the group. XYZnetworks is jointly owned by Foxtel and Austar. A recent decision by the ACCC approves Foxtel‘s acquisition of Austar, meaning that it will also control XYZnetworks, starting May 24. …

MUMBAI: On the heels of the strong performance of its STAR Gold movie channel, STAR India is launching Movies OK, a new service delivering Hindi-language first-run blockbusters, classics and contemporary features. Movies have emerged as a key category in India’s chaotic pay-TV space, and STAR has been investing heavily to …

HONG KONG: Annie Yim, a former Sony Pictures Television executive, has been tapped to lead the distribution efforts for Celestial Pictures’ content portfolio, which includes the Shaw Brothers film library, in Greater China. Yim will be responsible for the Shaw Brothers library as well as new Celestial Pictures content across …

CENTENNIAL/NEW YORK: International Media Distribution and News Corp.’s STAR TV have entered a deal with Time Warner Cable to bring four channels to the U.S. platform. STAR India PLUS, STAR India GOLD, Life OK and STAR India NEWS are all headed to Time Warner Cable in select markets. The Indian …

SINGAPORE: Universal Networks International’s female-skewing channel DIVA Universal in Asia has signed up for its own version of the Hot Guys Who Cook format, ordering six half-hour episodes for a June 2012 premiere. The show, co-produced with NBCUniversal International Television Production, will air on DIVA Universal across 20 countries in Asia. …

HONG KONG: Celestial Tiger Entertainment has bolstered its executive team with the appointment of Sylvia Noronha, Betty Tsui and Athena Ho. Noronha joins as general counsel. She is responsible for guiding the company’s legal strategy and leading the legal department in support of Celestial’s three business lines. Noronha was previously …