RTL has closed its deal to acquire Sky Deutschland from Comcast. The deal completed this morning, bringing together two of central Europe’s big players as entertainment businesses seek consolidation to reach scale and compete against the tech giants. The deal “underscores RTL Group’s strategic focus on in-country combinations in Europe to strengthen local media players […]

EXCLUSIVE: K-drama stars Park Seo-Ham (Our Universe) and Kim Ji-Yeon (The Haunted Palace) are leading Rakuten Viki series Dive Into You. The series, billed as a fantasy romcom, is from Korean production companies Dexter Pictures and Amuse Entertainment and U.S.-based streamer Rakuten Viki, which is an investor and co-producer. It marks Dexter’s first original drama. […]

EXCLUSIVE: Who Do You Think You Are?, The Bachelor and First Dates are about to get new leases of digital life. They are part of the 4,000+ hours of reality, dating and factual entertainment programming that Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) has sold to Little Dot Studios. Expanding on an existing pact between the […]

EXCLUSIVE: Sapne Vs Everyone actor Ambrish Verma has been handed an IMDb ‘Breakout Star’ STARmeter award. This recognizes talent whose popularity on IMDb has been significant, and has in the past flagged the rise of stars such as Zahan Kapoor, Sharvari, Ayo Edebiri, Maya Hawke and Regé-Jean Page. Verma wrote, directed and starred in Hindi-language […]

EXCLUSIVE: The Sidemen continue to find innovative release strategies for their original shows. The British YouTube collective’s Sidemen Productions is cooking up culinary competition series Sidemen Presents: SideMenu, a four-part culinary competition series that will get an unusual staggered launch on both Prime Video and YouTube. Episode one will premiere on the MoreSidemen YouTube channel […]

EXCLUSIVE: The Jamie Oliver Group is developing a microdrama series with creative company Baby Teeth, as a strategic partnership between the two companies is unveiled amid a rethink at the campaigning celebrity chef’s media business. Details of the vertical video production are broadly under wraps, but it is in pre-production and still begin shooting in […]

Ampere Analysis today has a new owner and another research house in its stable. Private equity firm Goldenpeak has acquired the influential UK-based entertainment analysis business for an undisclosed fee, marking the first time Ampere has had an institutional investor on board. At the same time, Ampere has acquired PlumResearch, the Poland-based audience specialist company. […]

EXCLUSIVE: HBO Max will roll out on Prime Video in New Zealand when it launches later this year. The service debuts next week on June 16 and will offered to viewers locally through Prime Video, including those without Amazon subscriptions. Standard and premium plans will be offered, with subs subscribers able to reduce costs from […]

EXCLUSIVE: Former TikTok exec Stuart Flint has joined the advisory board of Influencer, the global creator marketing biz founded by Caspar Lee and Ben Jeffries. Flint was TikTok’s VP, Sales in Europe, leading the social media app on commercial operations in the continent and is now SVP and Managing Director, EMEA for DoubleVerify. We hear […]

EXCLUSIVE: The latest series from Amplify Pictures is ‘Anglers’, an unscripted series from indie filmmakers and wildlife photographers Owen and Quentin Reiser. Danny McBride’s Rough House Pictures is serving as an executive producer on the show, which Amplify has greenlit as part of its strategy to independently-finance TV shows. As such, L.A.-based Amplify will finance […]

EXCLUSIVE: The Louis Theroux Podcast Season 8 will feature Gary Lineker and Andrew Callaghan among others. The show will return on all podcast platforms on June 9 with footballing icon turned media boss and podcaster Lineker featuring, also featuring cultural icons such as Spice Girl Mel C and chef Marco Pierre White. Video episodes will […]

EXCLUSIVE: Former Fremantle exec Shirley Bowers has joined The Jim Henson Company as VP of Global Distribution, we’ve learned. The hires puts her in charge of content sales an distribution and driving revenue from the Henson catalog, which includes the likes of Dinosaur Train, Sid the Science Kid and Fraggle Rock. She’ll also develop international […]