World Screen

LONDON: ITV has signed a new two-year deal with The Football Association for the terrestrial broadcast rights for FA Cup and England international matches through the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. ITV1 will continue to broadcast the first pick of FA Cup games from the first round to the final, and will also …

HELSINKI: FOX International Channels (FIC) has expanded its presence in the Nordic region with the acquisition of the Finnish free-to-air channel Suomi TV. Suomi TV will offer fiction and nonfiction series, including titles from National Geographic such as Mega Factories, Shark Men, Inside, Banged Up Abroad and Jurassic CSI. These …

LONDON: ITV has commissioned the new series Superstar, in which Andrew Lloyd Webber will conduct a nationwide search for the actor/musician who will play the lead role in the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. The British public are invited to audition during February and March in London, Dublin, Belfast, Manchester, …

LONDON: Shine 360° has appointed Frances Adams to serve as its first creative director. In the newly created role, Adams will be responsible for establishing the creative vision across Shine Group’s in-house and third-party projects. She will work with the existing 360° brand and commercial teams as well as Shine Network, …

MIAMI: Among the companies that will exhibit under the Audiovisual from Spain umbrella at NATPE are BRB Internacional, Imagina International Sales and Edebé Audiovisual Licensing. A total of 14 Spanish companies will be on hand at NATPE with Audiovisual from Spain. This includes Boomerang Internacional, BRB Internacional, Edebé Audiovisual Licensing, …

LONDON: More than two-thirds of Endemol’s lenders have reached an agreement in principal regarding the restructuring of the group’s debt burden. This represents a "significant majority" of its lenders. Discussions will continue in the weeks ahead. The company reports that it outperformed its internal budgets last year with gains of …

PARIS: Josh Sapan, the president and CEO of AMC Networks, has been signed up to deliver a Media Masterminds keynote at MIPTV on April 2. Sapan will discuss the value of original programming and look at how to create distinctive entertainment brands. AMC Networks owns and operates the successful brands AMC, …

LONDON: Sony Pictures Television has expanded its U.K. activities with the acquisition of the channels business Dolphin Broadcasting along with picking up a majority stake in the ad sales house Dolphin TV. The move brings five new channels to SPT’s U.K. portfolio: Movies4Men, Movies4Men+1, Movies4Men2, Movies4Men2+1 and Men&Movies. The channels …

LONDON: The new competition series The Angel, commissioned by Sky1 from Twofour, gives would-be entrepreneurs an opportunity to compete for investment in their dream business. Playing "the angel" is John Caudwell, from Stoke-on-Trent. He will scrutinize the proposals of aspiring entrepreneurs who are invited to compete for £100,000 worth of …

MUNICH: The ProSiebenSat.1 Group has picked up free-TV rights for a package of Hollywood blockbusters from Warner Bros. International Television Distribution, which will also supply new U.S. series to the German outfit over the coming years. The output deal gives the group rights to movies such as the continuation of …