World Screen

BETHESDA: Robert L. Johnson, the founder of BET, has reached a deal to acquire the U.S. independent distributors Image Entertainment and Acorn Media Group. The combined company, RLJ Entertainment, will be listed on NASDAQ, according to a press release announcing the transaction. Johnson will serve as executive chairman of the …

BURBANK: The shows Duets, Trust Us With Your Life and Final Witness will be making their series premieres this summer on ABC, alongside returning highlights such as Secret Millionaire and Wipeout. The singing competition Duets, which features music superstars looking for protégés, launches on May 24 at 8 p.m. The …

BEVERLY HILLS: YouTube has set a launch date of Friday, April 13, for the BlackBoxTV premium channel, from CSI creator Anthony Zuiker in collaboration with director Tony E. Valenzuela and Collective Digital Studio. BlackBoxTV will present horror, thriller and sci-fi content online. The new channel, part of YouTube’s premium programming …

NEW YORK: Select performances from the Comedy Theatre at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival will be filmed and edited into an original one-hour compilation stand-up special that will air on Comedy Central this summer. The Comedy Theatre at Bonnaroo has been around since 2004. This year’s comic lineup will …

LOS ANGELES: The freshman comedy New Girl has been given a second-season order by FOX, which is also bringing back Raising Hope and Glee. New Girl is currently the number one new series among adults 18 to 34 and the number two new scripted series among adults 18 to 49. …

NEW YORK: More than 167,000 preview clips from the Historic Films archive have been added to the Footage.net library. Footage.net users can screen preview clips from Historic Films’ stock-footage collection, which spans 1895 to 2010. This includes more than 50,000 hours of news, lifestyle, travel, fashion, celebrity, military and cartoon …

SAN FRANCISCO: Virgin America has beefed up the offerings on its Red in-flight entertainment platform, including the addition of the new Virgin Produced Channel. Starting this month, Virgin America flights across North America can access the new channel, created via a unique partnership with Virgin Produced. The channel will offer …

TORONTO: The 2012 Market Tools survey from QuickPlay Media has found increased interest and adoption of mobile TV and multiscreen services, with 57 percent of respondents reporting that they are interested in multiscreen viewing. This figure is up from the 48 percent reported in 2011. Of the respondents, 35 percent …

PORT WASHINGTON: The monthly rates for pay TV have grown an average of 6 percent per year, with The NPD Group predicting monthly bills to reach $200 by 2020. The average pay-TV subscription for basic pay-TV service and premium TV channels in the U.S. reached $86 in the U.S. According to …

NEW YORK: Listen to comic-book legend Stan Lee as he talks to World Screen Newsflash about his new endeavors at POW! Entertainment, where he serves as chairman and chief creative officer; the art of creating memorable, long-lasting superheroes and upcoming cameos in the Spider-Man and Avengers feature films. Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men, …