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What the future holds for Syfy 9 Feb 2010 
THE C21 INTERVIEWS: Dave Howe, president of US cable channel Syfy, tells C21TV this year will mean new platforms, new genres and a move towards international coproductions. Click through to view.
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SVT to bolster mid-week prime 9 Feb 2010
HOTSLOTS: Swedish public broadcaster SVT1 is looking to strengthen its midweek primetime schedule.
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UK lifts product placement ban 9 Feb 2010
The UK government has finally decided to allow paid-for product placement on British television.
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French minister defends telecoms tax 9 Feb 2010
France's minister of culture and communications has rejected criticism from the European Commission over its 'telecoms tax,' aimed at making up for the banning of advertising on public television.
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US Boss gets Scandi sales, huge ratings 9 Feb 2010
 Broadcasters across Scandinavia have acquired the US version of UK indie Studio Lambert's Undercover Boss, following its stellar premiere on CBS thanks to the Super Bowl.
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Liberty CEO: We have $3bn to spend 9 Feb 2010
International cable group Liberty Global is on the hunt for more European companies to acquire, and has a US$3bn war chest to invest, CEO Mike Fries has announced.
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TVNorge sends Monster to uncover roots 9 Feb 2010
Norwegian network TVNorge has commissioned Monster Entertainment to create a series in which Americans of Norwegian descent rediscover their Nordic roots.
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Five's Woolfe hits back at AFP claims 9 Feb 2010
Five controller Richard Woolfe has rejected suggestions that the UK terrestrial has been over-reliant on advertising-funded programming.
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BBC relives The Good Life 9 Feb 2010
UK pubcaster BBC2 aims to pay homage to classic 1970s sitcom The Good Life with a series featuring two celebrities attempting to live as self-sufficiently as possible.
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Zolmo's appetite for success 9 Feb 2010
MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT 2010: UK celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has emulated his success on-screen with a top-grossing iPhone recipes app. Its creator, Tristan Celder, of London software design house Zolmo, tells Jesse Whittock how Apple is changing the game.
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MEG moves NZ format to Canada 9 Feb 2010
Scandinavian distributor Media Entertainment Group's new formats arm has picked up its first format and struck a Canadian deal for the New Zealand property.
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Sky sells 10.4% of ITV at $550m loss 9 Feb 2010
Satellite platform BSkyB has sold a 10.4% stake in troubled UK broadcaster ITV for just £196m (US$306.5m), having paid some £546.1m (US$853.8m) for it four years ago.
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BBC2 looks for more Geniuses 9 Feb 2010
UK terrestrial network BBC2 has greenlit a second season of its in-house comedy series fronted by comedian Dave Gorman.
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Zodiak names new digital entertainment chief 9 Feb 2010
 Zodiak Entertainment has appointed the president of its biggest in-house digital arm as its new chief digital officer, to work across its unscripted programme brands and entertainment formats.
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BBC looks into Christian persecution 9 Feb 2010
 BBC religion head Aaqil Ahmed has made his first major commissions since joining the broadcaster from Channel 4 last year, ordering a slate of Christian-themed documentaries to air this Easter.
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Eisner toon gets Oz debut 9 Feb 2010
 Australian cable network Fox8 has acquired Glenn Martin, DDS, the first cartoon to come out of former Disney chief Michael Eisner's Tornante Animation.
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Mediaset confirmed as Breasts buyer 9 Feb 2010
Mediaset has been confirmed as the Italian broadcaster adapting Colombian telenovela Without Breasts There is No Paradise, after C21 broke news of the format deal last month.
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Growing appetite for Stilton 9 Feb 2010
Animated children's series Geronimo Stilton has been picked in territories including French-speaking Canada and the Middle East, taking the number of countries airing it to more than 50.
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E1 has Faith in hip-hop doc 9 Feb 2010
North American production house E1 Television and subsidiary E1 Music have teamed up with hip-hop artiste Faith Evans to develop a reality series chronicling her return to the music scene.
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Sesame gets more social 9 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organisation behind Sesame Street, has created a new post in order to step up its social media presence.
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Motive raises digital funds 9 Feb 2010
UK production group Motive Television has raised £400,000 (US$624,000) to develop its digital terrestrial technology business, as it continues to offload its production companies.
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Incendo, Zone3 form production alliance 9 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: Canuck distributor Incendo has struck a deal with the Quebec-based indie behind The Wedding March, in a bid to grow their share of the English Canadian production market.
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Monster snatches Al Jazeera sitcom 9 Feb 2010
Ireland's Monster Distributes has taken international rights to Baaas, a family sitcom from Al Jazeera Children's Channel, Welsh broadcaster S4C and prodco Cynhyrchiadau Ceidiog Creations.
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BSkyB agrees to sell ITV stake 8 Feb 2010
After numerous failed appeals, UK satcaster BSkyB has finally accepted the government's decision that it must sell off its 17.9% stake in terrestrial broadcaster ITV.
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Bravo gears up for 2010 8 Feb 2010
THE C21 INTERVIEWS: Andy Cohen, senior VP of production and development at US cable channel Bravo, tells C21TV his programming strategy for 2010 and beyond. Click through to view.
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Zaslav eyes female market 8 Feb 2010
Factual television giant Discovery Communications is mulling the international launch of a new female-skewing pay-TV channel, its president and CEO David Zaslav has told C21.
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Wong exits Lifetime 8 Feb 2010
US cablenet Lifetime's CEO Andrea Wong is leaving, with History channel president and general manager Nancy Dubuc tipped to take over.
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BBC2 re-examines Children Act 8 Feb 2010
BBC2 has commissioned a documentary series looking at the impact of landmark UK legislation the 1989 Children Act, and how divorce in the modern age affects children.
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Gagnon drops Anchor for Image 8 Feb 2010
Troubled California-based producer-distributor Image Entertainment has grown its recently installed executive team by hiring a former Anchor Bay Entertainment executive.
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Galleon picks more Dragonfruit 8 Feb 2010
UK entertainment rights company Galleon Holdings is strengthen its presence in the US, paying US$1m for a 19% stake in Dragonfruit Studios.
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Teletoon, Sardine hook up for animation 8 Feb 2010
Canuck children's network Teletoon and Montreal-based animation house Sardine Productions have joined forces to develop a series about a boy who becomes a cartoon character.
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CCTV content heads for Lat Am 8 Feb 2010
China International Television Corporation has signed a representation deal to bring programming from state-run China Central Television to Latin American broadcasters and platforms.
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Primetime Strategies 2010 – Global TV – Canada 8 Feb 2010 
 Global TV posted its best fall season results in six years, 34% up on the previous fall. VP of content Barbara Williams tells Gün Akyuz about Global's 2010 ambitions.
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AETN's app aspirations 8 Feb 2010
MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT 2010: A&E Television Networks found success with iPhone games based on some of its most popular TV shows, and is now looking to move into paid-for applications. Adam Benzine reports.
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MTG buys into Russian pay-TV, launches SVoD 8 Feb 2010
Modern Times Group of Sweden has acquired a 50% stake in one of Russia's newest pay-TV platforms, and has also launched a subscription video-on-demand service across the Nordic region.
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Babar charges into Europe 8 Feb 2010
The new 3D toon Babar & The Adventures of Badou (52x11') has been acquired by broadcasters across Europe and South Africa, Canadian distributor Nelvana Enterprises has confirmed.
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Collective decision 8 Feb 2010
Animation Collective's founder Larry Schwarz believes the merging of his company with the kids arm of HandMade Group and partnering with Nat Geo Kids will create an outfit with both independent thinking and global sales nous, he tells Jesse Whittock.
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BBC, Arqiva to sell DTT slots 8 Feb 2010
UK media regulator Ofcom has given its consent for the BBC and platform infrastructure company Arqiva to jointly sell multiplex capacity, enabling two new additional national TV channels to be broadcast over DTT.
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ITV1 demands Ransom from Projector 8 Feb 2010
UK terrestrial channel ITV1 has commissioned a three-part drama thriller from actor Trevor Eve's production company Projector Pictures and TalkbackThames.
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Travel Channel hits New Zealand 8 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: Travel Channel International has linked up with Kiwi platform Sky Television to launch the network in New Zealand.
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Aussie volume deal for RDF 8 Feb 2010
At least 300 hours of UK lifestyle programming is heading down under each year after UK distributor RDF Rights sealed a multi-year volume deal with an Australian pay-TV channel.
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BGoodMedia aboard All3's Cash Cab 8 Feb 2010
Prodco BGoodMedia, formed by the former head of FremantleMedia Belgium, has acquired rights to UK superindie All3Media's international formats catalogue for Flemish-speaking Belgium.
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Sky1 collars RSPCA doc series 8 Feb 2010
UK satcaster Sky1 has commissioned the tentatively titled Pet Police, an ob doc series following the UK's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
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Hotel Inspector finds home on Home 8 Feb 2010
Home, the UKTV-owned diginet focusing on homes and gardens, has acquired cable rights to the first three seasons of factual entertainment hospitality show The Hotel Inspector.
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Judge rejects C4, Studio Lambert injunction 5 Feb 2010
UK broadcaster Channel 4 has failed in its attempt to get an injunction to ban coverage of a libel battle in which it and indie Studio Lambert are accused of faking parts of a documentary about singer Michael Jackson's family.
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