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LONDON: BBC director-general Mark Thompson has unveiled plans for a service that would enable users to pay to download and permanently keep their favorite shows from the BBC archives. Dubbed Project Barcelona, the plan is being put before the BBC Trust later this year. The service would function as a …

LONDON: Deborah Sargeant, formerly an executive producer at Tiger Aspect, has been appointed as commissioning editor of entertainment for Sky. She will be executive producing entertainment series across the Sky channels, which includes Sky 1 HD, Sky Living HD, Sky Atlantic HD, Sky Arts HD and Sky Movies HD.   …

PARIS/LONDON/TORONTO: Entertainment One (eOne) and Wild Bunch have entered into a multi-year distribution partnership for France, effective June 1. The first home-video titles to be released under the new partnership are season one of Call Me Fitz, starring Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills, 90210), set for June, and season two of …

MUNICH: Red Arrow Entertainment Group has acquired a majority stake in the British indie Endor Productions. The company is led by Hilary Bevan Jones. Endor has a slate of TV and film projects that have been produced by key creative talent, including Richard Curtis, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Neil Gaiman, Lenny Henry and …

LONDON: Mark Thompson, the BBC’s director general, has confirmed that he is leaving the corporation this fall, after serving nearly eight years in the role. A date for his departure has not yet been confirmed, though he said he will remain at the BBC until coverage of the 2012 Olympics and …

LONDON: Channel 4 is taking over the terrestrial rights from the BBC for racing events such as the Grand National, Royal Ascot and Epsom Derby starting in 2013. Channel 4 will air what it calls the "crown jewels of the sport" to its schedule for "at least the next four …

LONDON: ALL3MEDIA is planning to sell its programs direct to consumers through Samsung and LG Smart TVs. Starting this month, Samsung Smart TVs will feature an ALL3MEDIA app. The offering hits LG Smart TVs in April. Both services will initially launch in the U.K., with the U.S. to follow shortly …

LONDON: Solomon Nwabueze has been appointed to the role of senior VP of content/IP and co-productions for EMEA and the Asia Pacific at FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME). Based in London, Nwabueze will report into David Ellender, the global CEO of FME. He will be responsible for identifying partnership opportunities and acquiring …

PARIS: Novavision has sold its Junior Hidden Camera series to Turner Broadcasting System France for its Cartoon Network channel, among other deals. The candid-camera show Junior Hidden Camera will begin airing on the kids’ channel on April 1. In addition, the Swiss broadcast group RTS has licensed 150 HD comic …

LONDON: Microsoft has brought the BBC iPlayer VOD service to its Xbox LIVE platform for users in the U.K. The BBC’s popular VOD service is now available on every major gaming platform in the U.K. The launch also means that the BBC is the only British content provider to make its programs …