Top Stories

LOS ANGELES: Hulu has given a straight-to-series order to Difficult People, a series from Universal Cable Productions (UCP), exec produced by Amy Poehler. The half-hour comedy is created by and stars Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner as best friends living in New York City, where their irreverent behavior lands them …

ATLANTA: TBS has ordered a 22-episode new season of Twentieth Century Fox Television's animated comedy American Dad!, which began airing on the channel last month after broadcasting on FOX since 2005. American Dad! follows the misadventures of Stan Smith, a CIA agent living with his wacky family in Virginia. It is …

ARLINGTON: PBS's winter/spring season will include an expanded Sunday night drama lineup in 2015 with 20 new Masterpiece hours, including Grantchester, Wolf Hall, Poldark, Indian Summers and a new season of Mr Selfridge. Sunday night drama in 2015 on PBS will include season five of Downton Abbey, beginning January 4. …

BURBANK: Seeking to expand its music capabilities, FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) has appointed Daryl Berg to the newly created role of VP and head of music. Under Berg’s leadership, the company’s new music division will be responsible for overseeing all of FMNA’s music-related lines of business, including music publishing and …

LOS ANGELES: Japan's Mitsui & Co. has taken a minority stake in FactoryMade Ventures, a Los Angeles-based outfit that incubates media and entertainment businesses. In addition to the investment, Mitsui & Co—one of Japan's largest diversified general-trading companies, with businesses ranging from food to chemicals, machinery and finance—is forming a …

NEW YORK: After losing its Supreme Court battle last June, the video streaming service Aereo has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings. Aereo had created a cloud-based system that allowed subscribers to record and watch live television over the Internet. The U.S. broadcast networks took issue with the service, with …

NEW YORK: CBS Consumer Products and Desilu, too—which manages the estates of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz—have teamed up for the launch of the first official online retail destination dedicated to the hit sitcom I Love Lucy. Shoppers can visit the online store at ILoveLucySuperStore.com, which is operated by eShopCreations. …

ENGLEWOOD/ATLANTA: Turner Broadcasting's CNN, Cartoon Network and truTV, among other channels, are back on DTH platform DISH Network after being pulled from the service last month. In October, a number of Turner channels were removed from the DISH programming lineup following a contract dispute between the two companies. In a …

LOS ANGELES: This winter, FOX is scheduled to debut World's Funniest Fails, a tentatively titled unscripted comedy inspired by the successful YouTube channel FailArmy, among other new and returning programming. World's Funniest Fails will present a number of "epic fail" viral videos along with commentary from a panel of comedians. …

NEW YORK: SundanceTV's Sarah Barnett has been named president and general manager of BBC America, with current chief Perry Simon moving into an exclusive production deal with BBC Worldwide North America. The move comes after AMC Networks became co-owner of the channel. Barnett will also remain in charge of SundanceTV …