Top Stories

BARCELONA: Mediaproducción, the content subsidiary of Mediapro, has emerged from voluntary bankruptcy protection, which it filed in June 2010. Mediaproducción was declared by Commercial Court No. 7 in Barcelona as having met all of the objections raised by its creditors. I can now return to its normal day-to-day operations. The …

LONDON: The growth in TV viewing on computers and tablets is beginning to plateau in the U.K., likely due to the increasing PVR penetration, according to new figures from Barb. In November 2011, 14.9 percent of respondents cited watching TV shows on a PC, laptop or tablet in the previous week. …

LONDON: ESPN in the U.K. is to introduce a new schedule that will feature around nine hours of live studio sports analysis and commentary every Sunday as well as the sports comedy chat show Off the Ball. The new lineup, which launches January 15, will include key football and rugby …

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group (MTG) has taken a one-time hit of SEK 3,191 million ($466 million) linked to the acquisition of Bulgaria’s Nova Televizia in 2008 and the upcoming closure of its Slovenian station. MTG will shut down its loss-making Slovenian free-TV network TV3 in the coming months, with a …

LONDON: Alan Yentob, the creative director at the BBC, has been named a non-executive director on the board of BBC Studios and Post Production. The company, which offers studios, post production and digital media services to the media industry, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It is based at …

LONDON: Broadcast Text International (BTI) has acquired Chello Zone’s operational studio business in Eastern Europe. The long-term versioning agreement will see the majority of all localization needs within Chello Zone’s channel portfolio provided by BTI. “As leaders in their field, Broadcast Text International are well placed to take over our …

LONDON/BEIJING: China Central Television (CCTV) is using Vision IPTV’s Internet broadcast playout service to deliver a trio of Chinese-language channels on FreeviewHD. Through FreeviewHD channel 111, using an Internet-connected TV or set-top box, customers can access three free-to-watch channels of live 24-hour broadcast. CCTV Channel 9 features films and dramas; CCTV Channel …

LUXEMBOURG/ATHENS: RTL Group is exiting the Greek broadcasting market, selling its 70-percent majority shareholding in Alpha Media Group to entrepreneur Dimitris Contominas. Subject to approval by the Greek Competition Commission, the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of this year. Contominas currently owns a 30-percent share in …

LONDON: Shine Group has acquired the online broadcaster and original content producer ChannelFlip, which specializes in short-form video. ChannelFlip, founded in 2008 by Justin Gayner and Wil Harris, is among the largest creators of quality short-form online video programming in the U.K. Its original in-house productions include David Mitchell’s Soapbox, …

LONDON: Both ITV and BBC Worldwide have signed deals with LOVEFiLM, bringing to the service titles such as Prime Suspect, Doctor Who and Planet Earth. The SVOD agreement with ITV brings LOVEFiLM recent hits such as Marchlands and Above Suspicion, as well as classic crime series, including Inspector Morse, and British …