Top Stories

LONDON: TalkTalk has acquired the blinkbox Movies business, as well as the Tesco broadband and fixed-line voice base. Blinkbox is among the leading on-demand providers of pay content in the U.K. TalkTalk believes that the acquisitions will help to accelerate the development of its platform by delivering a number of …

LONDON: Nicoletta Gelli has been hired by Universal Networks International (UNI), NBCUniversal International Television's international channels' division, as senior VP of marketing. In her newly created role, Gelli will oversee marketing and digital activity for the company's portfolio of pay-TV channels around the globe, including such brands as Universal Channel, …

LONDON: Jan Hendrik Smeenge has been elevated to CEO of Zodiak Nederland, replacing Peter Lubbers, who steps down next month to take up a new role outside the company. Smeenge is currently serving as the head of development. In his new post, Smeenge will report to group chief executive Marc-Antoine …

LONDON: Jane Featherstone, who has been the chief executive of Kudos since 2011, is set to leave the company in the spring. Featherstone joined Kudos in 2000 as the head of drama. She will continue to work in a hands-on executive producer role on a number of commissioned projects, including …

LONDON: Gary Davey, the executive VP of programming at Sky Deutschland, has been appointed to an expanded role as managing director of content at Sky. Davey is combining his new role—with responsibility for Sky's entertainment, movies and news channels in the U.K. and Ireland—with his existing responsibilities at Sky Deutschland. …

LONDON: Twofour has beefed up its executive team with the hiring of Kitty Walshe as head of features and daytime. The appointment, which is effective immediately, sees Walshe overseeing the growth Twofour’s pre-watershed slate, as well as executive producing some of the company’s existing features output. Walshe joins from Remarkable …

MIAMI: From BAFTA winner Ed McCardie and Oscar winner Corinne Marrinan comes Spotless, a new crime drama that Tandem is bringing to NATPE. The company is also highlighting The Last Panthers, about a heist that is reminiscent of an infamous gang of jewelry thieves, and Pirate’s Passage, an animated family …

LONDON: The two new consumer brands BBC Brit and BBC Earth are rolling out across the Nordics, with launches planned in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland from April. The upcoming Nordics launch will follow the successful debut of BBC First, a premium drama channel, in Australia last year. It …

LONDON: Looking to expand its presence in the U.S. and internationally, Content Television has extended Saralo MacGregor’s role to include U.S. acquisitions and development, with Jonathan Ford taking the lead on the distributor’s worldwide sales. In her new post as executive VP of acquisitions, development and sales, MacGregor will be …

MIAMI: Audiovisual from Spain, which will be present at next week's NATPE market and conference, represents companies of all sizes and profiles. The umbrella brand encompasses the major broadcasters of Spain such as Televisión Española, Atresmedia and Mediaset España, as well as independent production companies such as Grupo Secuoya and …