News


Fremantle buys into former Endemol exec’s indie

FremantleMedia has bought a 25% stake in Full Fat TV, the indie set up earlier this year by the former boss of Endemol Shine Group-owned indie Remarkable Television, Colette Foster. The agreement gives FremantleMedia a quarter stake in the Birmingham-based UK prodco and an option to increase that in the future. Prior to launching the […]

Investors circle Nordic World

The owners of Nordic World are looking for a new partner in the distribution firm and a deal is likely within weeks, TBI has learned. The business is solely owned by Norwegian commercial broadcaster TV2 after its founding partner, Swedish broadcaster TV4, pulled out last year. TV2 subsequently recruited financial advisors to find a new […]

Government funding pledge for BBC World Service

The BBC Trust has welcomed plans by the government to fund an extension of the BBC’s World Service with additional spending outside of the licence fee. As part of its ‘National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015’, published yesterday, the government said it will invest “£85 million [US$128.4 million] each year by 2017/18 […]

Sky’s Pick orders Monkey Life

Sky has commissioned a new series of Monkey Life and bought two earlier seasons of the wildlife doc series for its free-to-air channel Pick. Pick (fka Sky 3) has acquired 20x30mins of the finished Monkey Life series from independent distributor TCB Media Rights. It has also ordered a new, eighth, season of the show, which […]

Disney takes on Netflix with DisneyLife

The Walt Disney Company has launched its new UK streaming service DisneyLife, offering access to the firm’s “biggest collection of entertainment in one place”. The service costs £9.99 (US$15.11) per month and is available as an app on compatible Android and iOS devices. Users can also stream content to TV via Apple Airplay or Chromecast. […]

Equestrian SVOD service goes live

Netherlands-based, equestrian-themed SVOD service, HorseLifestyle.TV has launched globally, promising “the best horse content from all over the world.” The streaming service will offer films, documentaries, series and books across connected devices for €12.95 per month. HorseLifestyle.TV claims to be suitable for people of all ages and says the service will feature a wide range of horse experts […]

Icflix strikes telco deal

Middle East and North Africa-focused SVOD player Icflix has inked a deal with Umniah Telecom, and its streaming service is now available to the Jordanian telco’s customers. Umniah customers can activate Icflix via their mobile handsets. They will then be able to access the service on connected devices. Icflix is programmed with a range of […]

Netflix gets Bob Odenkirk original feature

US streaming service Netflix is continuing its push into original feature films with Girlfriend’s Day, a black comedy starring Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk. The show follows a put-upon greetings card writer (Odenkirk) who is framed for murder. US title The Hollywood Reporter broke the news. Girlfriend’s Day will have a […]

New board members for NATPE

The National Association of Television Program Executives has elected ten industry figures to its board, and named a new executive committee. The moves come ahead of the arrival of new managing director J.P. Bommel, who replaces CEO Rod Perth next year, and soon after the organisation confirmed it was moving its central and eastern Europe […]

TeamTO expands with new studio

Angelo Rules animation house TeamTO is to open a new 11,000sq ft facility. The new production base, in Bourg-lès-Valence in the south of France, will initially house around 150 animators, rising to 220 ­ or 60% of the firm’s entire roster – by the end of the year. Paris-based TeamTO is best known for shows […]