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LONDON: UKTV has ordered second and third seasons of Taskmaster, a popular comedy series led by Greg Davies and Alex Horne, for its entertainment channel Dave. Taskmaster looks on as Davies assigns a variety of wacky challenges to a group of comedians, with Horne serving as his right-hand man. The …

MAINZ: Drama, entertainment formats and factual series are some of the genre highlights ZDF Enterprises is set to present at MIPCOM. ZDFE.drama’s lineup is led by the third season of Bron/Broen (The Bridge), which has been sold to more than 160 countries all over the world. Another Scandinavian thriller is The …

PARIS: Novovision has appointed industry veteran Valérie Seban as a consultant for its development and acquisitions department. In her new role, Seban will oversee the company’s hidden-camera and format initiatives. She will also be charged with managing publicity. Seban will report directly to the company’s CEO, François-Xavier Poirier. Seban has …

MOSCOW: Russia's CTC Media has agreed to sell a 75 percent interest in its operating businesses to UTV-Management, which is an affiliate of UTH Russia, for $200 million in cash. The board of directors of CTC Media will recommend that the company’s stockholders approve the transaction at a special meeting …

LONDON: DRG has picked up the international distribution rights for the upcoming BBC series Tracey Ullman's Show, an original comedy sketch program. Tracey Ullman's Show will present the titular comedienne's observation of modern life. The 6×30-minute series will feature celebrity impressions and returning comedy characters that the award-winning actress is …

LONDON: The Rack Pack marks the first-ever feature film to be made exclusively for the BBC iPlayer. Produced by Zeppotron, the film stars Luke Treadaway (Fortitude, Clash of the Titans), Will Merrick (About Time, Skins), Kevin Bishop (The Kevin Bishop Show, A Few Best Men), Nichola Burley (Death Comes To …

MUNICH: Next month in Cannes, Red Arrow International plans to present a variety of formats and scripted series, including the new espionage thriller The Romeo Section. CBC Canada's The Romeo Section comes from acclaimed showrunner Chris Haddock (Boardwalk Empire). Other scripted titles from the Red Arrow catalogue include Cleverman, a …

WARSAW: The SPI International channel FunBox 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) has increased its slate of native 4K content with new acquisitions from The Boat Show Television and Medina Media. SPI International has acquired worldwide rights to 20 episodes of The Boat Show. FunBox 4K/UHD has also added two new series from Spain’s Medina …

TEL AVIV: France’s AB Groupe has picked up both the format rights and the Spanish version of the Dori Media Group scripted comedy Date Blind (Ciega a Citas). The series tells the story of Lucía, a woman who tries to find a boyfriend before her sister’s wedding. It originally aired …

CANNES: Based on the works of Agatha Christie, Partners in Crime is headlining all3media international’s MIPCOM drama slate. “Agatha Christie’s fiction is recognized globally, and this brilliant new series has been a great joy to launch,” says Stephen Driscoll, all3media international’s senior VP of international sales. The company is also …