World Screen

LOS ANGELES/PARIS: Nearly 300 companies have already registered to attend the second edition of DISCOP Istanbul, which will be held February 28 to March 1. Organized by Basic Lead, the event will be held at the Intercontinental Ceylan Hotel in Istanbul. Exhibitors already on board include Zodiak Rights, ITV Studios …

MADRID: Imagina International Sales has added the series What Happened to Jorge Sanz? to its catalogue and will launch the show officially at NATPE. The series launch on Canal+ at the end of 2010. The series is based on the life of Spanish acting prodigy Jorge Sanz (Valentina, Belle époque, …

LONDON: Marking its first global viewing event of 2012, BBC Worldwide is bringing the Sport Relief televised fundraising effort to an international stage. Sport Relief in the U.K. features British sporting talent, comedians and entertainers who come together in an effort to raise money to support various causes around the …

LONDON: Roberta Ibba-Hartog, who previously led regional sales at HBO, has been named as the head of TV for the U.K. and Eastern Europe at Lionsgate UK. Ibba-Hartog is responsible for the sales and distribution of all Lionsgate films and series across the U.K. and Ireland and will oversee sales …

LONDON: KPMG’s latest Media & Entertainment Barometer reports that streaming content services are becoming more mainstream in the U.K., particularly among younger viewers, with iPlayer having the greatest brand awareness, followed by the ITV player and Amazon-owned LoveFilm. KPMG U.K.’s report also points to an increasing willingness among consumers to …

PARIS: A number of key appointments have been made within the Zodiak Media Group, which is being rebranded as Zodiak Media.  Vincent Chalvon Demersay, who remains CEO of Zodiak’s Marathon Media, is appointed chief strategy officer for the group. The role will see him working closely with Jonathan Slow, the group COO …

LONDON: Britons watched 4 hours and 2 minutes of linear TV a day in 2011, matching the record high set in 2010, with the commercial broadcasters accounting for 64 percent of all viewing. According to Thinkbox, using data from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB), commercial TV channels had an …

PARIS: BBC World News has expanded its relationship with French telco SFR for carriage on Neufbox TV, upping its distribution in the country to more than 16 million homes. BBC World News became available last month on SFR’s Neufbox and Neufbox Evolution offers on ADSL and fiber. It was previously …

LONDON: Channel 4 has commissioned a full season of the sketch show Anna and Katy’s Television Programme from Roughcut TV. Anna and Katy’s Television Programme is a six-part character-driven sketch show for Channel 4 that features celebrity cameos and up-and-coming talents on the sketch comedy circuit. Anna Crilly’s previous credits …

LONDON: Netflix’s new streaming service in the U.K. and Ireland has licensed a range of comedy and drama titles from FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), scoring a total of 115 hours. Titles under the deal include Men Behaving Badly, The Naked Civil Servant, The Strip and Falcon Beach. Netflix U.K. subscribers will also …