World Screen

LONDON: Shine Network has upped creative director Paula Warwick to the head of international productions. Warwick will continue to work with all of the Shine Group companies and international production partners, producing formats for different markets and act as a consultant executive producer on formats licensed to third-party producers. She …

MUNICH: The French DTT channel Direct 8 has picked up the series The Last Cop, which just launched in its third season in Germany on Sat.1, from SevenOne International. Locally titled Mick Brisgau, the series will air daily on Direct 8, beginning March 5. The series is about young cop …

MILAN/ISTANBUL: Six channels from the Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) bouquet are joining the satellite platform Digiturk to air across the Turkish market for the next six years. MTV and MTV Live HD start broadcasting on Digiturk as of March 1. The MTV flagship channel will be broadcast with localized …

LONDON: Dixons, the U.K.’s biggest electrical retailer, is setting up an on-demand film and TV service, KnowHow Movies, which will feature content from such partners as Disney, Pixar, Warner Bros. and others. Launching on Thursday, the service will operate on a pay-per-view basis, allowing film lovers to get titles at the …

LONDON: Target Entertainment has been placed into administration by its parent company, the Metrodome Group, which says it "can no longer continue to provide support to its loss-making subsidiary." "Given the tougher than expected trading conditions for Target…the board believes there is little prospect of Target returning to profitability in …

LONDON: Leopard Films, a division of Argonon, has tied up an international theatrical distribution deal for Swan Lake 3D, while Leopardrama is under way on developing a new feature-film project. Argonon’s drama division, Leopardrama, is developing the new feature-film project Mother of Sorrows with British screenwriter and director Terence Davies. …

NEW YORK: The French general-entertainment channel Canal+, which has a slew of original productions alongside a host of feature films and series acquired from the U.S. studios, is featured in World Screen‘s Top 100 Digital Channels: Western Europe downloadable report. OWNERSHIP: Canal+ Group, a division Vivendi. The channel is part …

NEW YORK: James Murdoch, the deputy chief operating officer at News Corporation, has relinquished his role as the executive chairman of News International. Tom Mockridge, the CEO of News International, will continue in his post, reporting to Chase Carey, the president and COO of News Corporation. "We are all grateful …

LONDON: ITV has posted a 14-percent gain in pre-tax profits for 2011 to £327 million. ITV reported a better-than-expected 13-percent rise in full-year earnings, which reached £462 million, on external revenues that were up 4 percent, to £2.14 billion. The British commercial broadcaster posted adjusted pre-tax profits up 24 percent …

UNTERFÖHRING: ProSieben HD, Sat.1 HD, kabel eins HD, sixx HD, N24 HD and Tele 5 HD are to be added to Deutsche Telekom’s Entertain IPTV lineup.  ProSiebenSat.1 will also make its standard definition free- and pay-TV channels available on the Entertain platform under a new long-term distribution deal. The agreement …