World Screen

WASHINGTON, D.C./PHILADELPHIA: Increased personalization, web content and social-media integration all feature prominently in X2, Comcast’s enhanced cloud-enabled operating system for set-top boxes that will roll out to the company’s pay-TV customers later this year. The new system, unveiled at The Cable Show in Washington D.C., is an upgrade of the X1 cloud-based …

NEW YORK: Starting this summer, a TWC TV application will be available on Samsung Smart TVs delivering VOD content from almost 100 channels. Customers of the cable platform will be able to access about 5,000 VOD titles on their compatible Samsung Smart TVs without a set-top box. “Time Warner Cable is …

NEW YORK: IFC has renewed its original comedy Portlandia for fourth and fifth seasons. Season four will have ten new episodes and will air in 2014. A ten-episode fifth season will launch in early 2015. The show is created and written by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, who also star …

LOS ANGELES: Linda Giambrone, a seasoned television executive and the former senior VP and head of production for Shine America, has become the company’s new executive VP and head of production. Based in Los Angeles, Giambrone will continue to manage all unscripted production for such popular shows as MasterChef, The …

BUDAPEST: Character-driven shows continue to prove popular for A+E Networks in Central and Eastern Europe, according to Marielle Zuccarelli, the company’s managing director of international content distribution. “Our programming is defined by high-end production values and larger-than-life characters that transcend cultural barriers,” she says. “We continue to expand our catalogue, …

STAMFORD: ESPN will discontinue its 3D channel by the end of the year as a result of low adoption rates for the technology in U.S. homes. "ESPN 3D was great at home but due to low adoption of 3D to home, we are discontinuing to focus on other products for fans …

NEW YORK: Participant Media’s new cable network, Pivot, has released a study indicating that a rising percentage of 18-to-34-year-olds have become so-called "broadbanders," also known as cord-cutters or cord-nevers, who are "abandoning" the traditional pay-TV system in favor of online content delivery systems. Slated for an August 1 rollout in 40-million-plus U.S. …

LOS ANGELES: Next week Google+ Hangouts is scheduled to begin streaming a live cookalong show featuring MasterChef fans and finalists and moderated by Laura Vitale, the creator of YouTube’s Laura in the Kitchen. Each one-hour episode will watch as a handful of fans prepare food and converse in real time …

NEW YORK: Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) has been lined up to guest star in TV Land’s Kirstie, a new comedy series led by Kirstie Alley. Alexander will portray the agent of Broadway star Maddie Banks, who suddenly reconnects with the son she gave up for adoption. The show will also feature …

LOS ANGELES: The Price is Right, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Dr. Oz Show were among the winners of the 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards presented this weekend, honoring lifestyle series, talk shows and soap operas. The awards were presented by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences …