Top Stories

SANTA MONICA: Lionsgate has optioned the TV rights for the bestselling Crossfire series of romantic novels by Sylvia Day. The young adult franchise has sold more than 12 million copies since it debuted last year. It has been a bestseller in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia. "The Crossfire …

UNIVERSAL CITY: Ryan Seacrest has signed on to host NBC’s upcoming interactive game show The Million Second Quiz, which he will also executive produce. The series debuts September 9 and will continue through September 14. It will then resume on September 16 and will air each night at 8 p.m. …

CHARLOTTESVILLE: SNL Kagan has acquired Multimedia Research Group, expanding its research, forecasts and analytics capabilities for a host of OTT video- and pay TV-related information around the world. SNL Kagan provides financial intelligence in the media and communications sector. MRG offers analytics and industry intelligence on the video and media …

NEW YORK: CBS Corporation has dismissed a proposal by Time Warner Cable’s CEO, Glenn Britt, to sell its channel on an a la carte basis, calling it a "sham" and an "empty gesture." Britt penned a letter to CBS’s CEO, Les Moonves, that said he would resume broadcasting programming if …

NEW YORK: Nielsen has released findings that for the first time ever provide statistical evidence for a "two-way causal influence" between broadcast TV tune-in for a show and the Twitter conversation around that program. The study analyzed minute-to-minute trends in Nielsen’s Live TV Ratings and Tweets for 221 broadcast prime-time program episodes …

LOS ANGELES: Laura Bell Bundy, a Tony-nominated actress and country music singer and songwriter, is joining the cast of the FX comedy Anger Management as a series regular. Bundy will star alongside Charlie Sheen as his new sex study research partner, Dr. Jordan Denby. Dr. Jordan is a brilliant psychologist …

LOS ANGELES: Sunrise Pictures and Entertainment One (eOne) have entered into a television development deal to co-finance and develop pilot scripts, primarily for one-hour cable dramas. For the projects to come from the relationship, eOne will produce and handle the worldwide distribution. Sunrise Pictures is behind the films The Whistleblower, …

NEW YORK: Time Warner has reported higher second-quarter profit, boosted by its film unit and TV advertising. Revenue was up 10 percent to $7.4 billion, and adjusted operating income grew 25 percent to $1.5 billion. Operating income increased 42 percent to $2.5 billion. At the Networks segment, which includes Turner …

NEW YORK: AOL has purchased Adap.tv, a video advertising platform, for around $405 million in cash and stock, marking its largest acquisition since becoming an independent company. The arrangement sees AOL paying $322 million in cash and about $83 million in stock. The purchase gives AOL a unique end-to-end solution …

LONG ISLAND CITY: The cloud-based DVR service Aereo is launching in three new U.S. markets next month: Miami, Houston and Dallas. The launch date for Miami is September 2, delivering access to more than 5 million South Floridians. The Houston launch follows on September 16, rolling out to more than …