World Screen

BEVERLY HILLS: Marta Fernandez and Karen Bailey have both been elevated to the role of senior VPs of original programming at Starz. The two of them will be taking the lead on overseeing new development and current productions. Fernandez has been with Starz since 2007, serving as the VP of …

LOS ANGELES: Vivi Zigler, who most recently served as the president of NBCUniversal Digital Entertainment, has been named president of Shine 360° and digital at Shine America. Zigler will oversee all branded entertainment, licensing, digital and live experiences at the company. Shine 360° is the global commercial and rights management …

LONDON: Thom Beers, currently the CEO of Original Productions, is taking on the role of CEO at FremantleMedia North America as of September 1. In his new role, Beers will be based in Los Angeles and report directly to Cecile Frot-Coutaz, the CEO of FremantleMedia. He will be responsible for the …

SANTA MONICA: An additional 90 episodes of the Charlie Sheen comedy Anger Management are on their way to FX from Lionsgate Entertainment. The show surpassed a ratings threshold required for episodes three through ten that triggered an automatic order for an additional 90 episodes—part of Debmar-Mercury’s 10-90 model. The figure …

LOS ANGELES: Joe Earley has been elevated to chief operating officer at Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX), reporting to Kevin Reilly, who last week was upped to chairman of entertainment. Earley will be instrumental in the management of all areas of the network, including scripted programming, casting, scheduling, digital and business …

SAN FRANCISCO: While viewing of short-form video content remains high on the web, consumers with connected TVs have shown a strong preference for watching programming that is a half hour or longer, according to a new report from adRise. The Connected TV Market Report says that usage of connected TV (CTV) devices …

MOUNTAIN VIEW: After five years in operation, Google has decided to close its TV Ads business, which functions as an online marketplace for purchasing television advertising. The effort was launched in 2007 as a way to bring digital buying and measurement technologies to traditional TV advertising. Google says that within that time …

NEW YORK: The sixth season of Jersey Shore, which premieres on MTV on October 4, is set to be its last. MTV will be airing a season’s worth of farewell programming, starting September 6. At 6 p.m., MTV will be screening exclusive first-look footage from the final season in a one-hour …

PREMIUM: David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, behind the series Episodes, a comedy starring Matt LeBlanc about adapting a British TV hit for an American network, talk to World Screen Newsflash.    WS: Both of you had some battle scars from working for U.S. network television executives and you wanted to bring some of that …

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK: An investor group consisting of Guggenheim Partners together with Mandalay Entertainment and Mosaic Media Investment Partners has reached a deal to buy Dick Clark Productions from RedZone Capital Management. Dick Clark Productions is behind the Golden Globe Awards, the American Music Awards, the Academy of Country Music …