Top Stories

BURBANK: Susan Rovner and Brett Paul have been named co-presidents of Warner Horizon Scripted Television. Rovner will continue in her current role as executive VP of development for Warner Bros. Television (WBTV). She also now will be directly responsible for leading the development and programming of the studio's scripted series …

SILVER SPRING: Doug Baker has been appointed as the chief operating officer and chief financial officer for Discovery Networks International (DNI). He is moving up from the role of executive VP and chief financial officer. Baker will transition into the new post over the next few weeks. He reports to …

BURBANK: ABC Family is continuing to build up its slate of original programming, with three drama pilots getting the go-ahead and new seasons slated for two of its hit comedies. The network is moving forward with Alice in Arabia, a drama about a rebellious American teenage girl who is unknowingly …

NEW YORK/ATHENS: Participant Media's Pivot is slated to televise the University of Georgia's George Foster Peabody Awards until 2016. The annual event will begin airing exclusively on Pivot this spring. The network will produce and broadcast original prime-time specials highlighting the annual winners chosen by the Peabody adjudication board. The …

SHERMAN OAKS: Liz Levenson has joined the team at GRB Entertainment as the director of international sales and acquisitions. Levenson most recently served as senior manager of development at Pilgrim Studios. Prior to this, she was the manager of acquisitions and development at Rive Gauche Television, and director of program …

BEVERLY HILLS: Actresses Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are set to co-star in Grace and Frankie, a new original sitcom for Netflix from the creator of Friends. The 13×30-minute comedy from Skydance Productions is scheduled to premiere on the online network next year. Marta Kauffman, one of the co-creators of …

RICHMOND: Media General and LIN Media are planning to merge, creating the second largest pure-play TV broadcasting company in the U.S. Together, the companies will own and operate 74 stations across 46 U.S. markets reaching approximately 26.5 million households. The new operation after the merger will be named Media General. …

LOS ANGELES: MarVista Entertainment has made a series of executive appointments, following its announcement that it will diversify into scripted series production. Gaylyn Fraiche has been tapped for the newly created post of VP of development and production. Fraiche will report to Robyn Snyder, MarVista's EVP of production and development. …

BURBANK: The Walt Disney Company has agreed to acquire Maker Studios, a YouTube-based video supplier, for a total consideration of $500 million. Maker Studios has more than 55,000 channels, 380 million subscribers and 5.5 billion views per month. By acquiring Maker Studios, Disney will gain advanced technology and business intelligence …

LOS ANGELES: MarVista Entertainment has licensed the original movie Starving in Suburbia to Lifetime in the U.S., where it will broadcast on April 26. The TV movie stars Laura Wiggins of Shameless. The drama, also titled Thinspiration for the international market, tells the story of a 17-year-old dancer who joins …