World Screen

NEW YORK: BBC America has signed up Clerkenwell Films, behind the U.K. hit Misfits, to develop two new series, Wired, a sci-fi program, and The Dead Beat, a paranormal crime show.   Wired takes place in a world with synthetic humans, called ‘Syns’, and explores themes of humanity and what …

SILVER SPRING: Acorn Media has purchased a 64-percent stake in Agatha Christie Limited from Chorion, giving it majority ownership of the iconic characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, among many others. Agatha Christie has sold more than 2 billion books, following only The Bible and William Shakespeare as the most …

NEW YORK: Making TV shows available online drives growth in the number of episodes watched and increases viewing time, according to new research from Knowledge Networks. The study, TV’s Web Connections 2012, finds that 42 percent of respondents say that having video online makes them think more highly of a TV …

UNIVERSAL CITY/OAKBROOK TERRACE: A new multi-year agreement has been signed by Redbox that confirms a 28-day window on Blu-ray Disc and DVD titles from Universal Studios Home Entertainment for its rental kiosks. The agreement extends the relationship between Redbox and Universal Studios Home Entertainment through 2014. Universal titles will become …

ATLANTA: Turner Broadcasting Systems has hired Valerie Watts Meraz as the VP of program acquisitions for Turner Entertainment Networks (TEN) and the Young Adults and Kids Media group (AYAKM). Meraz will negotiate deals for non-sports program acquisitions for TNT, TBS, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), truTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and …

NEW YORK: Aereo, an online start-up that plans to give users web access to live broadcast TV, is being sued by Fox, Univision and PBS, among other broadcasters, for alleged copyright infringement. Aereo, which is backed by Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp, claims that it can legally stream video from local TV stations …

SHERMAN OAKS: ITV Studios America has entered into an agreement with David Leepson through his production company Leepson Bounds Entertainment. Leepson Bounds Entertainment is currently in production on two pilots for Fuel TV. Previously, Leepson was the managing creative director at Base Productions, where he created, sold and executive produced …

CULVER CITY: The comedy Community has been given an animated treatment for a new short-form show, which is launching on March 7 on Hulu, Hulu Plus and NBC.com. The shorts, titled Abed’s Master Key, will run for three episodes. It features the animated alter-egos and voices of Community series regulars. …

LOS ANGELES: Film and TV executive Paul Rich is launching the new film and television distribution company BoPaul Media Worldwide (BMW), which is to formally debut at MIPTV. The company has more than 800 films and 150 hours of TV series programming. Among the company’s new offerings highlighted at MIPTV …

BRISTOL: ESPN networks are poised to air a combined 200 hours of live coverage of the UEFA European Football Championship 2012, presented live and in HD. Coverage starts June 8 to July 1, with all 31 matches available on ESPN3, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes Radio and 25 matches live on ESPN …