World Screen

MILAN: The French-Tunisian producer and financier Tarak Ben Ammar has made moves to acquire the Egyptian network ONTV, which he plans to manage through his Italian company Prima TV. Ben Ammar is purchasing the network from Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris. He already owns leading North African network Nessma TV along with …

SILVER SPRING: Discovery Communications has purchased Takhayal Entertainment and its affiliated companies in Dubai and Egypt, including the flagship food-based network Fatafeat. The move grows Discovery’s reach in the Middle East and North African TV market. It also gives Discovery access to a wealth of cooking recipes and shows and to …

JERUSALEM: Keshet hosted the first Innovative TV (INTV) Conference earlier this week, held over two days in Jerusalem, where Ari Emanuel, co-CEO of WME, was the guest of honor. Emanuel took part in a conversation with Avi Nir, Keshet’s CEO, to kick off the event. The conversation focused on changes …

TORONTO: Peace Point Rights has entered into a distribution partnership with Tanweer Group, which distributes content across the Middle East and North Africa.  Peace Point’s slate includes Keasha’s Perfect Dress, Colin & Justin’s Street Sweep, The Bulloch Family Ranch, Bake with Anna Olson and School Run, among others. This is …

LONDON: Broadcasters in the Middle East and Africa have picked up programming from Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN). Viasat in Ghana purchased Salt n’ Pepa. The South African Broadcasting Corporation of South Africa bought the third season of Teen Mom and the first season of If You Really Knew Me, …

BUENOS AIRES: With titles such as Candy Love, Mistreated and The Man of Your Dreams, Telefe International is looking to build up its business in the Middle East and Africa at MIPTV, according to Michelle Wasserman, the company’s head of international business, programming, formats and production services. "We are looking …

JOHANNESBURG: M-Net has lined up a slate of new dramas, in addition to content spanning the lifestyle, factual and kids’ genres. Highlights from the company’s offerings include The Wild, a new, HD daily drama series from M-Net’s in-house production team. It tells the story of three families from different racial …

PREMIUM: Original content, shorter windows on imported shows and driving HD and DVR rollouts are key to increasing Middle Eastern pay-TV platform OSN’s subscriber base, its CEO, David Butorac, tells World Screen Newsflash. In 2009, after a 15-year battle for supremacy in the pay-TV landscape in the Middle East and …

SPRINGFIELD: Alhurra TV, which is operated by the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), has called on Mercury Media and ITN (Independent Television News) to produce a weekly half-hour magazine show that will focus on social media, global technology and the Internet. N2K (Need to Know) will feature stories from the …

LONDON/DUBAI: News Corporation has purchased a minority share in the Dubai-based MOBY Group, which operates brands in Afghanistan such as Tolo TV and Lemar TV.  News Corp will contribute its 50-percent shareholding in Broadcast Middle East (BME), its Farsi-language joint venture with MOBY, for a minority share in MOBY and …