World Screen

LONDON: ITV is launching its first new channel brand in eight years, with ITV Encore set to roll out on Sky, delivering the commercial broadcaster's top recent drama series as well as its own original commissions. The ITV Encore rollout is part of a broader four-year partnership with Sky that …

LONDON: British pay-TV platform BSkyB reported 873,000 new subscription products sold in the second quarter, a 42 percent gain on last year, with revenues up 7.6 percent to £3.75 billion ($6.2 billion) in the first half. The company did, however, report reduced profits of £595 million ($985 million), an 8 …

LONDON: The U.K.’s BBC One has commissioned a full season of its one-off comedy hit Still Open All Hours, set to air later this year. The show, a sequel to the classic British series Open All Hours, aired as a holiday special last December. It was watched by an average …

LONDON: BSkyB and HBO are planning to co-develop and produce new original dramas as part of an expanded partnership between the two companies, which also renewed their output deal through 2020. Under the terms of the pact, Sky Atlantic will remain the exclusive U.K. home for first-run HBO programs until …

LONDON: BSkyB has extended its contract to exclusively broadcast WWE's weekly flagship programming in the U.K. and Ireland for another five years. This agreement will carry WWE and Sky's partnership into a milestone 30th year. Through 2019, BSkyB will continue to carry WWE Raw and SmackDown and will also add …

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group (MTG) has made an agreement with Viacom International Media Networks to include exclusive advertiser-funded VOD content from the MTV and Comedy Central networks in its free-TV online catch-up services in Sweden, Norway and Denmark starting on February 4. MTG will also manage advertising sales for Viacom's …

LONDON: The U.K. received £158 million ($260.3 million) in international investment in high-end TV shows and animation since new tax credits were introduced in April 2013. From April through December 2013, nine high-end TV projects originating outside of the U.K., including Game of Thrones, Da Vinci’s Demons and Elementary, delivered …

LONDON: Salar Farzad, the former global financial director of Macmillan Science and Education, is taking up the position of group CFO at Zodiak Media, from February 10, succeeding Laurent Boissel, who will be stepping down in the next few weeks. Boissel, the chief financial and operating officer and member of …

LONDON: There are a slew of new comedies coming to BBC Four's schedule this year, including Detectorists, starring and directed by Mackenzie Crook. Crook stars as a wannabe archeologist who, alongside his friend Lance, dreams of striking it rich and solidifying his place in detecting history. Detectorists is a Channel …

WARSAW/NEW YORK: Cyfrowy Polsat, a leading DTH platform in Poland, is about to launch FilmBox Arthouse, a new channel produced by SPI's Kino Polska TV. FilmBox Arthouse's lineup will consist of cinematic masterpieces by Visconti, Kurosawa, Hitchcock and Fellini, as well as a number of art-house and independent productions from …