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LONDON: The BBC has commissioned a host of new entertainment shows for its various networks, ranging from reality titles to game show formats. For BBC One, Stellify Media will produce Can’t Touch This, a game show where contestants can win a prize if they manage to touch it while dealing …

VIENNA/NEW YORK: Telekom Austria Group has signed an agreement with SPI International/Filmbox International that allows the Vienna-based company to launch the FilmBox thematic channels in territories where it operates. Nearly 250,000 customers in the region will have access to content from a number of FilmBox channels, which first launched in …

LONDON: ITV is bringing back the period drama Mr Selfridge and the comedy Birds of a Feather for new seasons. There will be ten new episodes of Mr Selfridge for the show's fourth season. Jeremy Piven (Entourage) will reprise his role as Harry Selfridge, and Katherine Kelly (Coronation Street) is …

KNOXVILLE: Scripps Networks Interactive is purchasing a 52.7 percent interest in the Polish multiplatform media outfit TVN, in an all-cash deal for 584 million euros ($617 million). Scripps picked up the controlling stake from ITI and CANAL+ Group. As part of the purchase, Scripps also assumes 840 million euros ($888 …

LONDON: Sky has invested a further $5 million in the OTT startup 1Mainstream, which operates an automated platform for the distribution of linear and on-demand video to a wide range of internet-connected devices. This new $5 million investment builds on the $2 million Sky previously invested in August 2013. Since …

LONDON: The Royal Television Society (RTS) has announced the winners of its 2013-14 RTS Programme Awards, with 18 nods going out to the BBC, including three honors for BBC Three, which is facing closure. The RTS Programme Awards honor excellence across all genres of British television programming. In the performance …

LONDON: Veteran TV executives Pat Younge, Narinder Minhas and Lucy Pilkington have come together to launch Sugar Films, billed as a 360-degree media company. The company encompasses production outfit Sugar Films and its digital arm Sugar Films Lab. The idea is to "integrate television content, digital production and creative solutions …

LONDON: BT Sport’s chat show The Clare Balding Show is now set to also air on BBC Two following an agreement between both U.K. networks. The weekly entertainment program’s new 12-episode season will debut April 2. An hour-long version will air on BT Sport on Thursdays, with a half-hour show …

MUNICH: In a first for ProSiebenSat.1, the broadcast group has finalized a content licensing deal with NBCUniversal, encompassing wide-ranging exclusive linear rights, as well as catch-up rights, in Germany. The pact covers the Hollywood studio's new U.S. sitcoms and select drama series. ProSiebenSat.1 also scored library titles from NBCUniversal as …

VIENNA: The Austrian pubcaster ORF has teamed with the VOD portal Flimmit to provide an exclusive selection of German-language and European premium movies, series and documentaries. Flimmit, billed as the largest independent VOD provider in Austria, delivers more than 4,000 films, docs and series. Beatrice Cox-Riesenfelder, ORF-Enterprise's managing director, said, …