World Screen

MELBOURNE: Shareholders of Consolidated Media Holdings (CMH) have approved News Corporation’s AUS$1.94 billion ($2.01 billion) takeover of the company, giving it an increased presence in the Australian pay-TV market.  The deal sees News Corp. doubling its stake in Foxtel, to 50 percent. It also takes on full ownership of Fox …

SINGAPORE: Cable platform StarHub is set to roll out five new on-demand services, delivering programming from the National Geographic Channel, STAR World, FOX Crime, FOX and FX brands in Asia. As of November 9, StarHub customers will have access to National Geographic Play, STAR World Play, FOXCRIME Play, FOX Play and FX Play, …

HONG KONG: LI TV Holdings has scored three new carriage deals for Life Inspired (Li), bringing the channel to TVB Pay Vision in Hong Kong as well as Topas TV and max3 in Indonesia.  The channel is now available within the basic pack of TVB Pay. On Topas TV, Li …

TOKYO: Sony Corporation posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of 15.5 billion yen ($194 million) compared to the year-ago loss of 27 billion yen ($337 million). Sony saw its operating income increase, at 30.3 billion yen for the second quarter, compared to last year’s operating loss of 1.6 billion …

SINAGPORE: ScreenSingapore, which will run alongside the Asia TV Forum, is hosting the world premiere of The Last Tycoon on December 4.  The film is directed by Wong Jing and is produced by Andrew Lau. Chow Yun-fat, Huang Xiao Ming, Sammo Hung and Yolanda Yuan star in the feature. The …

MUMBAI/LONDON: BBC Worldwide is closing down the Indian feeds of CBeebies and BBC Entertainment, citing delays in the digitization process and the "challenging" economics of operating pay-TV channels in the country. The two channels will be shuttered at the end of this month. BBC World News will remain on Indian airwaves. …

SINGAPORE: The HBO GO service is set to begin its Asian rollout in Hong Kong in the first quarter of 2013, in partnership with now TV, delivering shows 12 hours after their premiere on the premium channel in the U.S. HBO GO is slated to deliver around 1,000 hours of HBO …

HONG KONG: FOX Movies Premium (FMP), STAR Chinese Movies (SCM) and now TV have come together to launch a new and exclusive Play catch-up service. now TV customers with FMP and SCM can access FOX Movies Play and SCM Play through the now Player website. The Play service allows subscribers to …

SINGAPORE: ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) has extended its broadcast rights for The Masters Tournament professional golf championship, which it will air across multiple platforms in Asia, excluding South Korea. ESS will broadcast The Masters live coverage in addition to half-hour daily highlights and live on-the-ground reports in English and in …

PREMIUM: Episodes of the FremantleMedia format The X Factor pulled the two biggest weekday audiences in Australia last week (October 29 and November 2), while Australia’s favorite soap opera again showed why it’s still on the air with consistently impressive ratings. Home and Away, which made its debut on Seven …