NEWS & FEATURES

• C5 orders Tourette's doc from BBCS
  UK broadcaster Channel 5, owned by ViacomCBS, has commissioned a documentary about a teacher with Tourette's syndrome from BBC Studios.
• FilmUA turns to YouTube as prods freeze
  Ukrainian studio Film.UA Group is focusing on its YouTube channels during the coronavirus pandemic, to cope with increased demand for content by viewers stuck at home.
• Huawei Video lands in Lat Am
  Chinese OTT service Huawei Video has entered the Latin American market with launches in Colombia, Chile and Mexico.
• Broadening horizons
  Just over a year on from its launch, London-based copro and finance agency Fugitive is expanding into distribution and formats, while adjusting to cope with the Covid-19 crisis.
• C21FM is live: Turn on, tune in, chill out
  C21FM, the new content community radio station, is now live with music, news and interviews to keep you in the loop. Click through to tune in.
• Selling the crown jewels
  The distribution business is used to dealing in off-network and off-cable programme rights, but is ‘off-SVoD’ next, as licences for the first batch of streamer originals expire?
• Warner Bros adds Nick, Freeform veteran
  Warner Bros has hired a former Nickelodeon general manager and current boss of Disney-owned Freeform to lead global strategy for Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang.
• Discovery Lat Am bags Covid-19 doc
  Discovery Channel in Latin America has picked up a standalone documentary special that provides an in-depth look at the global coronavirus threat.
• Fremantle, Syco dance into China
  China’s Shanghai Media Group has ordered a local version of dance competition format The Greatest Dancer from Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment and production and distribution giant Fremantle.
• ACF expects firms to fold during pandemic
  The M&A market for TV production companies has been frozen by the Covid-19 pandemic and “some businesses will fail in the coming months,” according to the head of ACF Investment Bank.
• C4 to cut $186m from content budget
  Channel 4 is planning to reduce its content budget by £150m (US$186m) as part of measures to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, which also include furloughing 90 employees.
• TV4 Media promotes for new department
  Sweden's TV4 Media, owner of local broadcaster TV4, has promoted one of its execs to lead a new department specialising in business affairs for scripted content.
• UK ad revenue 'could drop 50%' amid crisis
  London-based independent media agency Generation Media has warned that investment in TV advertising in the UK could fall by more than 50% as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• ITV2 orders lockdown comedy series
  UK commercial broadcaster ITV2 has ordered a comedy series in which comedian Joel Dommett will broadcast from his home amid the coronavirus lockdown.
• Bento Box, Princess strike first-look deal
  Fox Entertainment-owned Bento Box Entertainment and Australian prodco Princess Pictures have signed a first-look animation development deal, with all projects to be produced in Australia with local talent and crew.
• Lifetime spins Married at First Sight
  US cable network Lifetime has greenlit a spin-off from its Married at First Sight format that will be self-shot at home by popular couples from the original series.
• Disney+ reaches 50 million subs
  Disney+ has reached 50 million paid subscribers globally since its launch five months ago, The Walt Disney Company has revealed.
• Toonz boards Chapman's preschool show
  Indian prodco Toonz Media Group has boarded a CGI preschool series from UK outfit Keith Chapman Productions. 
• Network 10, MTV Oz join One World
  Australia’s Network 10 and MTV Australia & New Zealand will join ViacomCBS networks around the world in broadcasting One World: Together at Home, a special in support of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Sundance Now secures Australian drama
  AMC Networks-owned streaming service Sundance Now has acquired the US rights to an Australian drama from Red Arrow Studios International.

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