News


Analysts downgrade BSkyB on Sky Europe fears

Credit analysts have downgraded BSkyB after the UK pay TV platform moved a step closer to creating a UK-Italian-German giant, Sky Europe. BSkyB recently received acceptances to take a majority stake in Sky Deutschland, leaving it with 87.5% of the German pay TV platform. With full control of Sky Italia in Italy, BSkyB will then […]

ID awaits Mail Order Murder delivery

Discovery Communications-owned Investigation Discovery has commissioned Mail Order Murder. Pioneer Productions will produce the 6x30mins series, which will tell stories of mail order marriages that ended in killings. These include a Russian mother that was stabbed 11 times in her laundry room and a sham marriage in which one party wanted an actual union. ID’s […]

Venevision names content boss

Former Televisa programming executive Carlos Santos has been named director of content and artistic development at Venezuela’s Venevision Productions. Santos will oversee the design and development of scripts and oversee the artistic direction of productions at Venevision Productions, which is the production studio arm of Venezuelan giant Cisneros Media. Santos has been with Venevision since […]

TVN buys Seven, Channel 5 shows

Poland’s TVN has acquired programmes including Seven Network’s World’s Richest Dogs from distributor TCB Rights. The commercial broadcaster has also bought another Seven series, the 19x30mins Surveillance, WAGTV-produced Combat Dealers, Arrow Media’s World’s Most Extreme and Channel 5 one-hour documentary Sun, Sea and Love Cheats. Elsewhere, TCB has sold Kate Middleton: Heir We Go Again […]

WGN America lands first unscripted originals

US network WGN America has commissioned its first unscripted original programmes. Docu-drama Outlaw Country comes from Bischoff Herney Entertainment, while docu-series Wrestling with Death comes from ITV Studios-owned Leftfield Pictures. Outlaw Country promises “an unprecedented look at crime” after producers gained full access to a law enforcement agency and a suspected crime family from Buckner, […]

Pilgrim signs Tutera to first-look deal

Craig Piligian’s Pilgrim Studios has signed the star of its WE tv series CELEBrations to a first-look deal. According to terms of the pact, celebrity party planner David Tutera will work with US indie Pilgrim to make a variety of lifestyle-themed scripted and unscripted series. To date, the pair has made three series together: David […]

eOne prodco hires Corus exec as SVP

Entertainment One-owned Canadian prodco Force Four Entertainment has hired a Corus Entertainment original programming chief to launch a new Toronto office. Vibika Bianchi joins as senior VP, reporting to chief creative officer John Ritchie, and will work closely with Vancouver-based senior VP and head of development Robert Hardy to expand Force Four’s slate. This comes […]

BBC preps sci-fi exclusives for iPlayer

UK pubcaster the BBC is launching three new sci-fi shows on its iPlayer streaming and catch-up service under the My Life in Science Fiction banner. Podcast producers The Geek Syndicate are making the films for iPlayer. My Life in Science Fiction: Invasion of the Fans will follow sci-fi fans and obsessives who reveal how the […]

Channel 4 creates deputy doc chief role

Channel 4 in the UK has upped Amy Flanagan to deputy head of documentaries. Flanagan will report to the head of docs Nick Mirsky in the newly created role at the commercial pubcaster. Channel 4 said the appointment comes as it seeks to expand the scale and range of its factual output with documentary among […]

Wuaki makes hire, plots Euro expansion

Movie and TV streaming service Wuaki has appointed former Samsung executive Sidharth Jayant as global product director, as the firm looks to continue to expand into new European markets. Jayant will head up product development across a range of platforms and devices – including smart TVs, games consoles, Android and iOS tablets, smartphones, Chromecast sticks, […]