World Screen

HELSINKI: FOX International Channels (FIC) has rebranded the recently acquired Suomi TV service as FOX in Finland, also extending its daily broadcasts to 12 hours. FOX Finland will feature entertainment series from the U.S. FOX network, including Family Guy and American Dad, as well as the FIC co-produced series The Walking Dead, among …

LOS ANGELES: NATPE has signed up more than 250 companies from 50 countries for its inaugural Budapest content market, formerly known as DISCOP East. The event, which takes place from June 26 to 28, already has close to 250 buyers confirmed representing 150 companies. NATPE expects this to increase to …

LONDON: Power has sold a package of 170 TV movies, including Charles Dickens’ seminal story A Christmas Carol, to Croatian pubcaster HRT. Also covered in the agreement are the true story Prayers for Bobby, the family film An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, the comedy Cinderella Pact, the fantasy epic Adventures in …

MUNICH: Tele München Group (TMG) has picked up a package of rights for Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3, which is scheduled for release on May 3, 2013 in North America. TMG acquired theatrical distribution rights in Germany and Austria, as well as German-language home-video, TV and new-media rights in Germany, …

NEW YORK/LONDON: As part of the coverage for the first-ever Sundance London film and music festival, Sundance Channel in Europe and Asia have slated new programming, including content created by Shine Group’s newly established youth-run production unit and the outreach agency Livity. From May 5 to 6, the network’s exclusive …

MAINZ: Stephan Adrian, the COO of ZDF Enterprises, has renewed his contract with the company for an additional five-year term. Adrian joined the company in July 1988 as adviser in the tax, insurance and social insurance department. He later took over the department in 1993. He has been in his …

BRUSSELS: A new study reveals that European commercial broadcasters contribute 15 billion euros ($19.7 billion) annually to the audiovisual content sector. The study—Audiovisual Content and Online Growth, commissioned from the E-media Institute by the Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT)—showed that the aggregate expenditure on content of the largest …

ROME: Fabrizio Salini has joined the board of directors at Switchover Media, taking on the newly created role of head of entertainment and factual channels. Salini will look after the new free-to-air digital TV channels targeting adult audiences that will be launching in the coming months. The new channels, one dedicated …

LONDON: Sandi Toksvig is to join Stephen Fry and Gina Carter at Sprout Pictures, where she will serve as creative director. Toksvig will work closely with Carter, the managing director, and Pip Broughton, the newly appointed creative producer, to create and develop new comedy, drama and entertainment projects. Toksvig and …

LONDON: Ofcom is starting an investigation into the unauthorized accessing of private emails by Sky News. The news channel previously admitted that it illegally went into the emails of John Darwin, the "canoe man," who was accused of faking his own death in an insurance scam with his wife. The …