Discovery Communications has made its first acquisition of an independent production company by snapping up Betty – the UK firm behind shows such as Dirty Sexy Things, The Joy of Teen Sex and Freaky Eaters. The US factual broadcaster is reported to have paid about £10 million (€11.7m) for Betty as it looks to expand […]
A few weeks ago it was widely reported that China had ‘banned’ entertainment-type programming especially that emanating from Taiwan and which frequently employed ‘Western’ presentation styles and fashions. BBC Monitoring reports that speculation has arisen whether the state TV regulator has decided to stop Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainers from participating in mainland China’s […]
Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has called on the technology and creative communities to build on their partnership to keep the movie industry strong and combat the threat of piracy. Delivering the keynote address at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers’ (SMPTE) Annual […]
Spain’s Telefonica, operator of the IPTV service Imagenio with almost 800,000 subscribers, is entering into the production TV business following its agreement with pubcaster RTVE to develop several entertainment and cultural TV programmes. The deal has already borne fruit with the release of the first TV productions: “Entre dos aguas” a documentary about music, and […]
The investment into Australian content by subscription television platforms and channels has increased to $578.4 million in 2010 from $541.4 million in 2009, show figures released by the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA). The seven per cent increase in content investment includes all STV genres covering news, sport, drama, light entertainment, movies, lifestyle, […]
Hit international TV formats such as Big Brother and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? are being protected by the laws of copyright, unfair competition, passing off and breach of confidence, according to a report launched at MIPCOM by FRAPA — the Format Recognition and Protection Association. The FRAPA Report 2011: Protecting Format Rights, […]
The Digital Production Partnership (DPP) – a partnership between ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC, with active participation from Channel Five, Sky, UKTV and the Independent Production sector – has revealed two major initiatives in digital production in Television. The first is the release of a report – The Reluctant Revolution – Breaking Down Barriers […]
AETN UK, a joint venture between A+E Networks and BSkyB, is rebranding as A+E Networks UK. The new company name and logo is part of a rebranding that will see the company adopt a new look and a new mission statement. Tom Davidson, managing director for A+E Networks UK, says: “At A+E Networks UK we’ve […]
Private equity fund Permira has cancelled its plans to sell All3Media. UBS had been appointed last March to find a buyer. All3Media is best known for producing hit shows such as Shameless and Skins. Permira had reportedly been looking for about £750 million to £800 million for All3Media, and while plenty of would-be buyers conducted […]
Tony Cohen, the chief executive of RTL subsidiary Fremantle Media, which co-produces The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, has accused the BBC’s commercial arm of “distorting the market” for British television producers operating overseas. Cohen told the Royal Television Society that BBC Worldwide pushed up the price of assets and properties for commercial rivals […]