News


Dave calls on Davies for chat show

UK digital channel Dave has commissioned a 5x60mins comedy chat show featuring QI panellist Alan Davies. The as yet untitled project will see Davies and four other comedians sit round a table and talk about whatever they feel. “I’m looking forward to sharing what makes comedians tick and bring some of the banter from long […]

Argonon snaps up UK indie Windfall

Growing UK production group Argonon has acquired factual specialist Windfall Films for an undisclosed amount. The deal is described as the biggest since Argonon was founded in 2011 as the new parent of prodcos Leopard and Remedy Productions. Windfall is behind UK shows such as Channel 4’s doc shows The Murder Trial and Inside Nature’s […]

MTG tipped to win race for channel operator Trace

A deal for Trace is close to completion with the Modern Times Group tipped to beat rivals to an agreement to buy into the fast-growing international channels group. Trace has been seeking investment and a plethora of channel operators have expressed an interest with the number of parties understood to have looked at the privately-held […]

ITV to launch female-skewed net

UK broadcaster ITV is expanding its group of free-to-air channels with the launch of a female-skewed channel called ITVBe. The network will exclusively house programmes such as reality smash The Only Way is Essex (pictured), which is currently on youth-skewed ITV2. The digital terrestrial network will target 16-34 year-olds with shows such as the Real […]

Israeli religious drama scores first intn’l deals

Yet another Israeli drama had made inroads on overseas channels’ schedules, with Dori Media selling romantic drama Shtisel into France and Sweden. The Swedish deal sees cultural channel Axess TV taking local rights to the show, while French deal is with distributor Pretty Pictures, which has DVD and on-demand rights. TBI understands a third deal […]

ONO board backs IPO plan despite Vodafone rumours

Spanish operator ONO’s board of directors have backed plans to take the company public, despite reports of a takeover approach from Vodafone. In a statement, following a board meeting at the company’s headquarters in Madrid yesterday, ONO said that no proposals related to an acquisition of the firm were presented or discussed. Instead, it said […]

BT up for the fight with UFC deal

UK telco BT has secured pay TV rights to show European and Asian fights from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. BT will show the fights on its BT Sport channel. The deal with the UFC gives it live bouts from the Emea Fight Nights and delayed broadcasts of the Asia Fight Nights. The telco and mixed […]

Lifetime gambles on The Lottery

US cable net Lifetime has commissioned a conspiracy thriller titled The Lottery – the A+E Networks-owned channel’s second scripted greenlight in days. Last week, female-skewed Lifetime ordered 10 episodes of Un-Real, a drama set behind-the-scenes at a popular reality TV show. The Lottery will also be 10 episodes and is set in a dystopian future […]

Warner Bros. toons for Lovefilm Germany

Lovefilm’s German SVOD service had added classic cartoon such as Tom and Jerry and The Sylvester and Tweety Show. Under terms of a deal struck with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution, Lovefilm is also adding superhero shows Batman: The Brave And The Bold and Superman, Scooby-Doo Where Are You?, The Flintstones and a comic adaptation of Tim […]

News brief: More Pointless for BBC One

UK broadcaster BBC One has commissioned more than 200 more episodes of Remarkable Television-produced gameshow Pointless. The deal comprises three seasons for BBC Daytime, with 24 episodes being primetime Saturday night Pointless Celebrity shows. Once broadcast, the new seasons will mean Pointless has been running in the UK for 13 seasons. The general knowledge show […]