Top Stories

LONDON: A selection of movies from the Disney portfolio, including Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, are being made available to rent and watch through Google Play and YouTube in the U.K. Users can go to Google Play to rent movies and watch on their Android …

PARIS: Among the star talent headed to Cannes are Julian Fellowes, Elle Macpherson and documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. Jean Reno and René Balcer will be on hand to promote the new series Le Grand, presented by Atlantique Productions in partnership with TF1 and distributor SevenOne International. Geraldine Somerville (Harry Potter, …

LONDON: As the deadline for the analog switchoff approaches, Digital UK, the body in charge of the process, warns that more than one million TV sets in the London region are set to go blank. One in ten households still have a television relying on an analog signal. The analog …

MODENA: Panini Media and AXN Sci-Fi Russia have entered a deal for the pay-TV rights for the series Metal Hurlant Chronicles, bringing seasons one and two of the show to Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Latvia and Lithuania, among other territories.  Season will starts this summer, airing on AXN Sci-Fi in Armenia, …

LONDON/SANTA MONICA: A number of films from the Miramax portfolio will be made available to UKTV subscribers in the U.K. and Ireland across basic pay and DTT channels.  UKTV operates ten channel brands—Watch, Gold, Dave, Alibi, Yesterday, Blighty, Eden, Home, Really and Good Food—in addition to other services. Miramax films …

HERTFORDSHIRE: Parthenon Entertainment is celebrating its 10-year anniversary as it heads to MIPTV with 110 hours of programming and a range of new topical titles.   Parthenon will bring content to MIPTV such as The Embezzlers: Inside the Soviet Mafia, a six-part HD series which reveals corruption and embezzlement at …

STRASBOURG: There was a 47.8-percent increase in the number of HD channels in Europe last year, with 375 new networks launched in the E.U. in total, according to figures from the MAVISE TV database. According to MAVISE, at the end of 2011 there were approximately 612 HD channels available in Europe; this …

LONDON: Zodiak Media has sold its Mastiff Media Polska production outfit to its management team, led by Grzegorz Piekarski and backed by Swedish private-equity firm Layline Partners, headed by Olle Langenius. Mastiff Media Polska is the Polish production company behind local versions of So You Think You Can Dance, Don’t …

PARIS: Among the offerings from adult-entertainment company Marc Dorcel is the Dorcel app, as well as a 3D VOD service. The Dorcel app offers viewers access to Marc Dorcel content and services from TV screens. The app is now being developed with TV manufacturers in the Netherlands, Korea and Japan. …

CANNES/SANTA MONICA: Sky Italia is set to air a number of titles from the Miramax library on its pay-TV channels in Italy.  The Miramax slate has more than 700 motion pictures. A number of these titles have been licensed to Sky Italia for pay TV under a new movie deal.  …