ITV

Tag: MipTV

  • FremantleMedia secures international deals for Martha Stewart’s new show

    FremantleMedia secures international deals for Martha Stewart’s new show

    CANNES: The distribution arm of global production outfit FremantleMedia, Fremantle International Distribution (FID) managing director David Ellender announced at MipTV that it has secured a raft of global sales for Martha.

    Martha (180 x 1 hour), the latest series from American lifestyle guru Martha Stewart and reality television producer Mark Burnett, has now been sold into 10 territories worldwide, with more on the cards.

    Ellender said, “We are delighted to have acquired such a high profile and keenly-awaited daytime series from the cream of US television talent. These strong initial sales for Martha further confirm our reputation and standing as the leading independent distributor of US originated reality and lifestyle programming.”

    FID’s sales team has brokered a number of deals which has seen the informative and educational new daytime chat show licensed to IBC Channel 2, Iceland; Good Life Channel, Israel; KTN Baraza, Kenya as well as TV4 and TV4 plus, Sweden, SIC Mulher, Portugal and Canal Plus, Poland.

    The Martha momentum is building, with the popular series also going to New Zealand free-to-air channel Television New Zealand (TVNZ) and pay TV’s The Living Channel. ABS-CBN in the Philippines; Kablevision, Indonesia and ONIMedia, Korea have also picked up Martha.

    A new recipe for daytime success, Martha shows Martha Stewart as we know and love her – and as we’ve never seen her before. The daily one-hour programme offers a new and different format for daytime TV. Combining Martha’s signature sense of humour with her love of people and projects, the show presents inspiring ideas from cooking and entertaining, to decorating, and home renovating, states an official release.

    Launched in September 2005 in the US on NBC, Martha is shot in front of a live studio audience and features a variety of celebrity guests joining Martha, fast becoming the doyenne of daytime, in her culinary and domestic activities.

    FID also holds the worldwide distribution rights to Martha excluding North America (US and Canada), Japan, Australia, and the Arabic-speaking Middle East. As part of the deal, the company has also acquired the Martha Stewart Living Television back catalogue for international distribution.

  • ‘Kappa Mikey’ acquired by Nicktoons Network in the US

    ‘Kappa Mikey’ acquired by Nicktoons Network in the US

    CANNES: Nicktoons Network and MTV Networks International announced plans to secure 26 additional episodes of Animation Collective’s property Kappa Mikey, which became the Networks’ first-ever global acquisition when it was originally commissioned in 2005.

    The announcement was made at MipTV television market in Cannes by Nicktoons Network vice president and general manager Keith Dawkins and Animation Collective CEO and Kappa Mikey’s creator Larry Schwarz.

    The animated comedy series has posted strong ratings on Nicktoons Network in the US since its launch on 25 February and has been gaining momentum across key demos.

    The new deal comprises 26 half hour episodes and will bring the total number of episodes available for the series to 52. MTV Networks International, as per the original deal, secures international distribution rights for third-party broadcast sales for the new episodes.

    Kappa Mikey is the first anime series created and produced entirely in the US and beginning in May 2006, the first season of the series is set to launch across all of Nickelodeon’s international channels, including Nick Asia, Nick UK, Nick Spain, Nick France and Nick Europe.

    “We are so excited to be picking up a second season of Kappa Mikey, which further demonstrates our commitment to bring new, original and distinct content to our audience. Kids have lots of choices and the brands that connect themselves to the freshest ideas win. We believe that Kappa Mikey, the characters, the story and the funny, prove to be the kind of idea that kids fall in love with,” said Nicktoons Network general manager Keith Dawkins.

    “In Nicktoons Network we were fortunate to find the perfect home in which to introduce Kappa Mikey. The Network’s enthusiastic support and love for the property has led to its success. The speed with which they renewed the show, less than a week after its first airing, demonstrates the commitment they have made to building Kappa Mikey as a brand and how supportive they are of independent creator-producers. We feel very lucky to be able to continue to bring to life the world of Kappa Mikey, its characters and its stories,” said Schwarz.

    “Anime is an extremely popular genre around the world and we are delighted that the success of the first season of Kappa Mikey is being extended across 26 new episodes. Broadcasters have tremendous confidence in MTV Networks International’s ability to provide cutting edge, unrivalled hit properties and Kappa Mikey is certainly delivering,” MTV Networks International senior vice president international program sales Debbie Back.

  • OpenTV adds Auction and Sales modules to its multi-platform product

    OpenTV adds Auction and Sales modules to its multi-platform product

    CANNES: OpenTV Corp., which provides technology solutions for advanced digital television services, has released new Auction and Sales modules that will add support for television auctions and sales to its multi-platform OpenTV Participate product. OpenTV Participate enables viewers to participate in real-time or time-shifted competitions, votes, polls, quizzes and games, via mobile phones, web, IVR, and TV remote controls.

    The Auction and Sales modules are fully integrated with existing OpenTV Participate modules, including third party billing, fulfillment, accounts, customer care, bonus, loyalty, and marketing. Operators can now run a dedicated shopping or auction channel or individual shopping or auction events.

    As with all OpenTV Participate modules, the new Sales and Auction modules utilize wizard-based logic, enabling almost any type of sales or auction event-including the popular ‘bid up’ and ‘bid down’ auction models-to be created by non technical personnel. Support for selling content is also included, enabling broadcasters to offer pay-per-use and on-demand services such as mobile TV clips, downloads, or video streaming on any platform, states an official release.
    With these new modules, OpenTV continues to enhance OpenTV Participate’s unprecedented combination of functionality in a single, scalable system, enabling broadcasters and programmers to offer their viewers an even richer choice of interactive products and services.

    “Our vision for OpenTV Participate is to enable broadcasters to convert passive viewers into active customers by offering compelling interactive services and building a profile of their viewers’ TV habits,” said Amos Manasseh, OpenTV’s VP of Global Sales and Marketing for Participation Television. “These new modules further advance this vision as well as OpenTV Participate’s unique position in the market place, benefiting both broadcasters and advertisers alike.”

    OpenTV will be demonstrating OpenTV Participate at the upcoming MipTV/MILLA, NAB, and NCTA conferences, the release adds.

  • FremantleMedia goes global with Jamie Oliver

    FremantleMedia goes global with Jamie Oliver

    CANNES: The distribution arm of global production company FremantleMedia, Fremantle International Distribution (FID), announced at MipTV a raft of international sales for a number of series starring celebrity British chef Jamie Oliver, including Jamie’s School Dinners, Jamie’s Great Italian Escape and Jamie’s Kitchen.

    Jamie’s School Dinners is currently planned to premiere in the US on TLC while Jamie’s Great Italian Escape will make its American debut on theTravel Channel.The launch of Jamie’s Kitchen, also on TLC, will mark the first time the show will air on one of the Discovery Communication Inc.’s cable networks.

    Both Jamie’s Kitchen and Jamie’s School Dinners have received tremendous praise from viewers and critics alike. Jamie’s Kitchen has recieved many awards like Indie Award, C4 Documentary Award (UK), Grierson, Most Entertaining Documentary(UK); Jamie’s School Dinners has won the National Television Award, Most Popular Factual Programme (UK).
    Fremantle International Distribution managing director David Ellender commenting on the raft of international sales said, “Jamie Oliver’s accessibility and culinary creativity have allowed him to transcend cultural and linguistic barriers to create a great demand for his programming around the world. As we introduce Jamie to a wider audience in the United States, Discovery Communications Inc.’s unique array of networks provide the perfect venue for these premieres and make them the ideal partner.”

    Jamie’s Great Italian Escape follows Jamie’s impulsive trip to Italy where he searches for new sources of inspiration in order to reignite his passion for cooking. Driving from town to town in his trusty camper, Jamie’s adventures take him across the country as he learns about street food in Palermo, dines with monks in Farfa and hunts wild boar in the mountains of Le Marche.

    25 territories have to date snapped up Jamie’s latest series, Jamie’sGreat Italian Escape including RaiSat, Italy; TV Norge, Norway; TV Danmark, Denmark; SABC, South Africa; Kanal 5 Sweden; Discovery Asia; Network Ten, Australia; TVB, Hong Kong; TVNZ, New Zealand; RTL2, Germany; Food Network; Canada, WOWOW, Japan; GloboSat, Brazil; VMMA, Belgium; Ren-TV, Russia and CP 2000 and Ceska, Czech Republic.

    In Jamie’s School Dinners, Jamie embarks on a monumental undertaking: take charge of 20,000 school dinners a day in one of London’s most demanding areas. If he succeeds in transforming the way kids eat, Jamie will try to create a blueprint for school meals across the United Kingdom. But will Jamie’s efforts put him at the top of the class or will his quest to create a healthy eating curriculum prove too daunting a task?

    An impressive 33 territories have ordered Jamie’s School Dinners including ORF, Austria; OK-Nova TV, Croatia; Cuisine TV, France; RaiSat, Italy; SIC, Portugal and Kanal 5, Sweden, among others.

    Jamie’s Kitchen chronicles Jamie’s effort to open a brand new restaurant in London’s East End. Not only is this his first restaurant, but Jamie gives himself an additional challenge by selecting 15 unemployed and inexperienced Londoners to train as his chefs. A busy schedule, delays in construction, increasingly troublesome trainees and the birth of his child gradually make the process more difficult for Jamie as he seeks to prove that it’s a passion for food, not academic qualifications, that make a great chef.

    Jamie’s Kitchen has also proved to be a phenomenal globe-trotting series for FID, which has secured sales in over 40 territories, including RTL2 Germany; SBS, Denmark; TV Norge, Norway; Mico, Japan and TVB, Hong Kong.

    Also, FID has also sold Oliver’s Twist to TV Azteca,(Channel 7), in Mexico, which is the 50th market to have bought the series. Fronted by Oliver, Oliver’s Twist blends the culture and style of London street life with interesting people and delectable food. From the markets, to house parties and of course to Jamie’s new kitchen, Jamie cooks up fresh, simple food for good times with family and friends.

  • DIC looks to acquire & co-produce at MipTV

    DIC looks to acquire & co-produce at MipTV

    CANNES: DIC Entertainment is at MipTV with an aim to acquire and/or co-produce programming for its new Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party on CBS, in addition to sealing deals on its library of kids’ properties.

    DIC has a five-year deal to broadcast 30 series on the three-hour CBS kids’ block. It is looking for both animated and live-action properties that can air on the block and can be extended across new media and merchandising platforms.

    DIC Entertainment chairman and CEO Andy Heyward said, “MIP and MIPCOM have always served as key markets to initiate major media deals for our business, and we are thrilled to once again utilize them to launch a significant strategy for the Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party programming block. We always welcome the opportunity to work with leading international broadcasters to create quality programs, and we look forward to meeting with producers and distributors to find stellar series to air on the block.”

  • Fox Reality acquires shows from outside the US

    Fox Reality acquires shows from outside the US

    CANNES: Fox Reality channel has announced a slate of new acquisitions at MipTV, taking on programs from the BBC, Endemol, Sony Pictures Television International and Eyeworks Distribution.

    Fox Reality CEO and GM David Lyle said, “We like to be innovative and introduce some classics and some of the most irreverent and entertaining reality shows from outside the U.S. to domestic audiences for whom these shows are new experiences.”

    From the BBC, the channel has secured five seasons of Castaway, seasons one and two of Driving School and three episodes of The Bronx Crime & Justice. Driving School follows a number of would-be drivers as they prepare to take their driving tests. In Castaway, a number of Britons are stranded on the remote Scottish Island of Taransay in the Hebrides. The Bronx Crime & Justice offers a look into the New York legal system.

    Through Endemol, Fox Reality has secured the rights to the controversial dating show There’s Something About Miriam, and with SPTI, it has taken the broadcast rights to the British (three seasons) and Australian (one season) of Dragon’s Den.
    And from Eyeworks, the channel acquired the ten-episode adventure reality Going Straight.

  • BVITV ties up with European & Asian broadcasters

    BVITV ties up with European & Asian broadcasters

    CANNES: Buena Vista International Television (BVITV) has announced a range of deals with broadcasters in Europe and Asia snapping up the company’s slate of kids’ shows, dramas and formats, on the first day of MipTV.

    The format for Extreme Makeover has been licensed to ICTV in Ukraine. ICTV also took the British version of Extreme Makeover, the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy as well as slate of features, among them Dick Tracy, The Waterboy and Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

    Also in Ukraine, New Channel has licensed the first three series of the hit comedy According to Jim plus the features Three Men and a Baby, Arachnophobia and Born Yesterday. In a separate deal, New Channel has also licensed Jetix Europe programming like W.I.T.C.H.

    Ukraine broadcaster STB also picked up a series of titles, among them The Color of Money, The Three Musketeers, Turner and Hooch and the reality series Miracle Workers.

    TV Nova in the Czech Republic has taken a raft of features, series, kids’ programming and TV movies. The network is set to launch Lost, which has been licensed to more than 210 markets, features like Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Seabiscuit; and library features including Pretty Woman and Sister Act. On the kids front, TV Nova will launch a new Disney-branded kids’ block, Disney Club, running weekly for two hours, and has licensed a selection of Jetix Europe shows.

    In Thailand, BBTV has renewed its multiyear agreement with BVITV-AP for live-action series, current features and Disney animation, and has signed a new package deal for animated features from Disney’s Classic Treasures, which will air for the first time on Thai terrestrial television.

    Under the multi-year agreement, kids in Thailand will continue to have access to top Disney shows on the Disney Club block that runs every Saturday morning from 6:50 am. to 8:30 am. Also, terrestrial audiences will have access to a slate of international box office hits including Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Seabiscuit.

  • Ericsson to boost mobile TV experience with on-demand services at MipTV

    Ericsson to boost mobile TV experience with on-demand services at MipTV

    MUMBAI: Taking the next evolutionary step in mobile TV, Ericsson will showcase its enhanced program guide for mobile TV at the TV and broadcasting event MipTV/Milia.

    The application integrates television and on-demand mobile television services in one location in one device.

    In an official statement, using the solution, Ericsson will demonstrate how a wide range of TV and on-demand programs can be well structured and easily accessed in one location on the mobile.

    The solution also allows users to easily access stored content for playback, making the mobile TV service even more attractive and personal.

    The enhanced program guide feature provides mobile TV users with comprehensive information on each program, providing users with a rich TV experience.

    Ericsson Mobility World VP Kurt Sillén says that personalization and ease-of-use are essential for mass-market uptake of the service.

    “Adding on-demand TV to the program guide will stimulate consumption and bring new revenues to the whole mobile media industry,” Sillén adds.

    Ericsson Consumer and Enterprise Lab studies show that consumer interest in mobile TV is often based on situation and an attractive option for filling time.

    With on-demand services, users can access recorded programs, yesterday’s highlights and archived material whenever they please. Both TV and on-demand services are necessary to meet the requirements of mobile TV users.

    The enhanced application will be commercially available as part of Ericsson’s Mobile TV and Video solution in the fourth quarter of 2006, informs the release.

    Ericsson provides operators with a true end-to-end solution that utilizes the WCDMA and GSM/EDGE mobile networks for commercial mobile TV and video services.

    Today, existing 3G mobile technology enables service providers to launch high-quality and cost-efficient mobile TV services.

    By the end of 2005, more than 40 operators had commercially launched mobile TV over mobile networks via unicast. As mobile TV becomes a mass-market service, mobile network broadcast technologies, such as MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services) will be added to mobile networks to further boost capacity.

    Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

  • It’s ‘All In The Game’ for Granada Intl at MIPTV

    It’s ‘All In The Game’ for Granada Intl at MIPTV

    CANNES: A new TV movie – All In The Game – starring Ray Winstone and Roy Marsden and produced by UK’s Tightrope Pictures, is being showcased by Granada International at the television event MIPTV in Cannes, France.

    This distribution deal is the first between Granada International and Tightrope Pictures. The company has already produced a number of dramas including The Girl in the Café, To The Ends of the Earth and Dad.

    All In The Game is a depiction of the modern football industry. Winstone plays Frankie, a larger-than-life football manager who, together with his son, has made a nice life for himself in the game – with fast cars and big houses, but not always secured through “above board” means. But his scams are starting to show through and suspicions are being raised.

    His latest and perhaps biggest plan centres around a young new player called Joel. Hugely talented and naive, Joel’s loss of innocence is mirrored in the fall of the game to the corrupt money men. It’s no longer about playing your best and winning or losing. It’s all about money and winning at all costs.

    Granada International drama head Noel Hedges said, “As a riveting drama about the ‘beautiful game’ and with the World Cup coming up this summer, we’re thrilled to be taking this to MIPTV 2006. It is a top quality piece of UK drama from a great writer with fantastic performances from a highly talented cast.”

  • Rainbow Media inks multiple licensing agreements at MipTV

    Rainbow Media inks multiple licensing agreements at MipTV

    CANNES: Rainbow Media Holdings and its London-based distributor iD Distribution have announced an explosion of international licensing agreements for Rainbow’s WE: Women’s Entertainment at MipTV.

    Spanning countries in four continents, these deals – which involve the signature series Daddy’s Spoiled Little Girl, Secret Lives of Women and Style Me – mark significant progress for Rainbow in its global market debut of WE.

    The news also affirms Rainbow’s success in its broader strategy to expand its brands internationally, having kicked off the effort at MipCom 2005.
    “We are obviously gratified by the terrific response we have received for our programming around the world. This is an incredible way to start what promises to be a rich pattern of global growth for the WE brand,” said Rainbow senior vice president business development Glenn Oakley.

    “WE’s high quality programming is a solid offering to broadcasters for its smart and edgy subject matter. These series have a proven entertainment value, and we are delighted at the opportunity to provide them to international audiences,” added iD Distribution managing director Sally Miles.

    The deals are as follows:

    Daddy’s Spoiled Little Girl (12 x 30’) – Sold to TV400 (Sweden), TV2 (Denmark), SBS (Belgium), Digiturk (Turkey), Sub TV (Finland), Orion Media (Korea), MBC (Middle East) and Sky Network Television (New Zealand). In this original series, WE looks at father/daughter duos who take “daddy’s little girl” to new heights. Rich or poor, these dads indulge even the most outrageous requests, including ‘faux mitzvah’ parties, $200,000 Bentley’s, private jets to Rome and shopping sprees in Paris.

    Style Me (2 x 60’ and 6 x 30’) – Sold to Kanal 5 (Sweden) and Sky Network Television (New Zealand). This reality-based show seeks to create the next top celebrity stylist for series host Rachel Hunter. Twelve contestants vie for the top spot and the chance to win $10,000 in cash plus a one-year contract with a talent agency and the opportunity to style Hunter for an A-list, red carpet event.

    Secret Lives of Women (9 x 60’) – Completed program rights only sold to TV400 (Sweden) and MBC (Middle East). This series explores the double-lives that some women lead, from plastic surgery addicts and anorexics to forensic sex investigators and shopaholics.
    Currently seen in over 58 million US homes, WE: Women’s Entertainment is the only cable network dedicated to helping women connect to one another and the world around them.