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PARIS: CANAL+ Group has elevated Maxime Saada, currently executive VP and head of pay TV, to the role of CEO, replacing Rodolphe Belmer. Belmer has officially been "relieved of his responsibilities," according to the company's supervisory board. Saada has held the executive VP and head of pay TV post at …

MOSCOW: Modern Times Group (MTG) has received an offer from UTH Russia for the purchase of a 75 percent stake in CTC Media. The acquisition bid comes in response to the amendment to the Russian law “On Mass Media,” which will impose further restrictions on non-Russian ownership of Russian TV …

DUBLIN: Liberty Global's UPC Ireland has entered into an agreement with Doughty Hanson to acquire the commercial broadcaster TV3. The purchase price is 80 million euros ($87 million), with an additional contingent consideration of up to 7 million euros ($7.8 million) payable based on TV3 reaching certain targets. Once the …

LONDON: The BBC has been ordered to take on the cost of providing free television licenses for those over the age of 75, a process that will be phased in from 2018-19 and fully implemented by 2020-21. U.K. Culture Secretary John Whittingdale announced the ruling earlier today that the BBC …

BERLIN: The German media giants ProSiebenSat.1 and Axel Springer are said to be in talks regarding a potential merger, valued at 14.4 billion euros ($15.9 billion). ProSiebenSat.1 Media is Germany’s biggest commercial broadcaster, and Axel Springer is the country’s largest newspaper publisher. Together, the two companies delivered 2014 revenue of …

LONDON: A second season of the hit comedy series Yonderland is set to premiere on Sky 1 HD later this summer. Produced by Working Title Television, Yonderland first debuted on Sky 1 HD in November 2013. The new season is scheduled to begin airing on the channel on Monday, July …

LONDON: GroupM forecasts that advertising spending in the U.K. will increase by 6.3 percent this year to reach £15.9 billion ($24.8 billion). The figures were released as part of the This Year, Next Year: U.K. Media and Marketing Forecasts report from GroupM. Ad spend in 2016 is expected to rise …

LONDON: Small to medium-sized independents landed 34 percent of commissioning spend in the U.K. in 2014, up from 24 percent the year prior, according to the Pact Census Report. Pact, which represents the interests of the British indie sector, classifies small to medium-sized independents as those with a turnover of …

STOCKHOLM: Dr. Ambuj Goyal has been named the new CEO of Magine TV after having served as a member of the company's board since May 2014 and its president and COO for the last nine months. Goyal has overseen significant investment in innovation and tech development at the company, with …

PARIS: Sophie Turner Laing, the CEO of Endemol Shine Group, will deliver a Media Mastermind keynote address on the opening day of MIPCOM, October 5. This will be Turner Laing's first MIPCOM address as the head of Endemol Shine, created from the merger of Endemol, Shine Group and CORE Media. …