World Screen

LONDON: Sony Movie Channel is headed to the U.K. this spring, marking Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks’ second branded channel in the territory. Sony Movie Channel, along with a time-shifted +1 service, will be ad-supported. This is the first time the channel brand has launched anywhere outside the U.S. The …

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group’s online pay-TV service Viaplay has scored additional license agreements with The Walt Disney Company Nordic and Sony Pictures Television, adding a further 500 movie titles for subscribers in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The deal includes some 300 films from the Sony Pictures Television catalogue, including …

LONDON: ITV Studios Global Entertainment is to launch the new 10-part drama Mr Selfridge, about the life of the American entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge, at MIPTV. The ITV1 drama, to be produced by ITV Studios, was created by Emmy Award-winning writer Andrew Davies. Ten hour-long episodes have been commissioned and …

MUNICH: Red Arrow Entertainment Group has taken on a majority interest in the U.K. entertainment production outfit CPL Productions, behind titles such as Sky One’s A League of Their Own and When the Dog Dies. The purchase marks the first investment by Red Arrow in the British non-scripted market. CPL’s …

LONDON: Building out its international production business, Sony Pictures Television has purchased a majority stake in the U.K. indie Silver River Productions, which develops content across a range of genres, from factual to comedy to drama. Silver River’s slate currently includes the prime-time programs The Town That Never Retired (BBC …

UNTERFÖHRING: In an extension of its pay-TV portfolio, ProSiebenSat.1 is gearing up to launch two new channels this spring: ProSieben FUN and SAT.1 emotions. ProSieben FUN, set to launch in May, will be an entertainment service geared toward young viewers. The 24-hour channel will feature ProSieben’s most successful TV shows and …

LONDON/STOCKHOLM: Tele München Group (TMG) and NICE FLX Pictures have signed a distribution and investment deal for a film project based on the Swedish book The Centenarian Who Climbed Out the Window and Vanished. The film, The Centenarian, will be adapted from the Jonas Jonasson novel that has sold more …

MAINZ/MUNICH: ZDF Enterprises and Koch Media have landed the rights for the Reese Witherspoon comedy Rule #1 for distribution in Germany and Austria. Rule #1 was purchased from Foresight Unlimited and distribution throughout theaters is set for next year. The film stars Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, Pleasantville, Walk the Line) …

MILAN: Sky Italia has brought the Sky Go on-demand service to PCs, Macs and iPhones. Sky Go is offered for free to all Sky HD customers, accounting for 73 percent of the more than 5 million households that have a Sky subscription. The service can now be used on personal …

PREMIUM: Irfan Sahin, the CEO of Dogan TV, talks to TV Europe about the factors that have led to Kanal D’s success. Kanal D is the undisputed market leader in Turkey, with broadcast, production and international-distribution businesses. In 2010, it was the most-watched network for 308 days out of 365 …