LONDON: In its third review of public service TV broadcasting (PSB), Ofcom has raised concerns regarding the decreased spending on first-run U.K. children's programs and dramas. The review examines how the BBC, ITV, STV, UTV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C have fulfilled the purposes of public service broadcasting. Ofcom ...

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MUNICH: The supervisory board of ProSiebenSat.1 Media has extended the contract of CEO Thomas Ebeling, who has held the post since March 2009. Dr. Werner Brandt, the chairman of the ProSiebenSat.1 supervisory board, said: "Since taking office in 2009, Thomas Ebeling has decisively shaped the group's strategy and, with his ...

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AMSTERDAM/LONDON: Endemol Shine Group has tapped Marina Williams, formerly CEO of Central and Eastern Europe and MENA regions, to serve as COO of international operations. The new post sees Williams with oversight for Endemol Shine Group’s operations across Central and Eastern Europe, India, the Middle East and Africa. She will ...

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LONDON: African Movie Channel is set to be distributed on the new Lebara Play OTT service within Europe. The deal will give European subscribers unlimited access to countless hours of African cinema content, available 24 hours a day. Lebara Play can be viewed via PC, mobile app, tablet or set-top ...

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LUXEMBOURG: RTL Group has appointed Gabriella Vidus as the new CEO of RTL Hungary, while Péter Kolosi has been elevated to the post of deputy CEO. Vidus has been serving as general manager of RTL Hungary's advertising sales house R-time. She takes on the CEO post at RTL Hungary with ...

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STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group (MTG) has entered into an agreement to purchase 74 percent of Turtle Entertainment, which operates under the ESL brand, for 78 million euros ($86.6 million) in cash. ESL’s online leagues and tournaments, including ESL One and Intel Extreme Masters, are among the biggest in the world, ...

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LONDON: The BBC Trust has given its provisional approval to moving BBC Three to an online-only service, but is not backing the launch of a +1 channel for BBC One. The Trust carried out a series of "Public Value Tests" for several proposals to evaluate whether any adverse market impact ...

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LONDON: A new report from SNL Kagan, which has expanded its coverage to include key markets in Europe, finds that with the slowing U.S. ad market and rising programming costs, major media conglomerates are increasingly eyeing the European pay-TV channels business. The research firm reports that in the U.K., total ...

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PARIS: Vivendi has acquired an 80 percent stake in the online video platform Dailymotion from Orange, for 217 million euros ($243 million). The move gives Vivendi access to a range of music and audiovisual content and allows for the joint development of original content, together with the Universal Music Group ...

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LONDON: David Bouchier, a veteran of the European pay-TV industry, has been tapped as Virgin Media's first chief digital entertainment officer. The newly created role brings together the content, programming and digital entertainment teams, as the cable operator looks to further develop its proposition in the TV and entertainment market. ...

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