PROGRAMMING
Proving that there is, indeed, life after “Will & Grace,” Megan Mullally,
one of the stars of the NBC sitcom, has signed with NBC Universal Television
Distribution to host a nationally syndicated talk show. The actress, who won an
Emmy award for her role as Karen Walker on the hit show, will show off her gift
for gab beginning in the fall 2006 season. [Newsday]
Newsday

After being given the official green light, U.K. TV audiences will get to
watch a Channel 4 documentary about a woman with split personalities. “Being
Pamela” follows the four different personalities of 32-year-old Pamela Edwards.
The local council — which looks after her — and the U.K.'s official solicitor
had argued that the doc’s star lacked the capacity to give permission to take
part in the film. But the High Court in London supported her right to freedom
of expression. [BBC News]
BBC

Retro programming has hit the big time in Australia. 1.62 million viewers
tuned in to the Nine Network to watch “Temptation,” a re-branding of classic
game show “Sale of the Century,” which was retired in 2001. The success of the
show meant a rare Monday night ratings win for Nine, which has suffered because
of the popularity of Seven's Monday night broadcast of “Desperate Housewives.”
[Google News]
Google News

MTV is upping the tempo in the Caribbean. In October 2005, Viacom-owned MTV
Networks will launch Tempo — a Caribbean music and culture network — in that
region. The network will become available to North American audiences by 2006.
[Reuters]
Reuters.com

BUSINESS
There’s a new sheriff in town at Alliance Atlantis Communications. The
Canada-based company will split its top roles: former CEO Michael McMillan will take
on the role of executive chairman and focus on overseeing long-term growth
and the direction of the company, while Phyllis Yaffe (former COO of the
company) will take over as CEO, overseeing long-term growth and the direction of the
company. [Reuters Canada]
Reuters Canada

A recent executive shuffle at Australia’s Seven Network is causing the
channel to hold on to its employees for dear life. Following the exit of network
head David Gyngell, the company has locked in David Leckie — the man responsible
for bringing “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost,” and, subsequently, increased
ratings to the net — for another 4 years. The contract renewal is a testament
to what a difference a year can make. Only six months ago the industry was
speculating whether Leckie would last at Seven until the end of the calendar
year. But thanks to Seven's ratings success this year, he is now considered
something of a hero on the television network scene. [Google News]
Google News

ADVERTISING
And it’s a wrap . . . almost. ABC executives say that the net has nearly
completed its upfront primetime advertising sales for the 2005-2006 season.
Revenue commitments for the fall season should rise more than 30 percent from a year
ago due to some real primetime hits. The network is expected to book close to
$2.1 billion for primetime, early morning, network news and late-night
dayparts. An estimated $600 million will be allocated for sports programming. [San
Diego Union Tribune]
San Diego Union Tribune

“Desperate Housewives” may have a lot of fans, but Mary Kay Cosmetics ad
execs are certainly not among them. The company is pulling out of a planned ad
buy following criticism from a conservative Christian group. [E! Online]
E! Online

TECHNOLOGY
There’s no doubt about it . . . thin is in when it comes to TV screens. Sales
of traditional TV sets are on the wane; the number of old-style TVs sold in
the U.S. last year were down by 4.4 percent, while the number of flat screens
sold shot up 116 percent — to 3.4 million. Furthermore, the world's leading
electronics firms are racing to build flat TVs which are more affordable for the
average consumer. [The International Herald Tribune]
The International Herald Tribune

CONTROVERSY
While many Bollywood filmmakers think the government should “butt out,” it
seems as though the television execs in India are embracing the country’s new
smoking ban. From August 2005, characters in movies and television are not
supposed to display or use tobacco products. When it comes to older movies,
channels and theaters will have to carry scrolling health warning messages. Channel
executives insist that the ban hardly matters since they have already been
following self-regulation on this issue. [Indian Television]
Indian Television

HONORS
The Italians sure do love their Colin Firth. The British actor has been
honored with the title of Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity
— a title originally created in 1947 to recognize those who rebuilt post-war
Italy. Firth regularly organizes literary events with the Italian Cultural
Institute in London, is married to the Italian producer Livia Giuggioli and is
fluent in Italian. [BBC News]
BBC News

FILM FESTIVALS
Good news for all the poor souls who missed the Cannes Film Festival: all you
have to do to see this year’s most celebrated films is take a trip down
under. The 54th Melbourne International Film Festival, which will run from July 30
— August 7, will feature the cream of last month's Cannes Film Festival crop.
Melbourne audiences will be among the first in the world to screen Palme d'Or
winner, “The Child (L'enfant)” — a drama by Belgian brothers Luc and
Jean-Pierre Dardenne. [The Age]
The Age

FILM
It looks as though George Lucas has still got it. “Return of the Sith,” the
most recent prequel to the “Star Wars” franchise, has already grossed $270
million in the U.S. and $504 million worldwide, and the film is poised to help
Hollywood crawl out of its recent slump. [E! Online]
E! Online

PRESS RELEASE CLIPS
On July 14, Big Vision Entertainment will release the 5-disc DVD collectors’
series titled “The World’s Greatest Stand-Up Comedy Collection.” The series
is hosted by Norm Crosby.
Big Vision Entertainment

CBS Paramount International Television has licensed exclusive U.K. TV rights
for new series “Threshold” to Sky One. Additionally, Sky One has signed on as
a co-production partner for the series with Paramount Network Television.
CBS

CCI’s pre-school series “Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs” has
recently been sold to U.K. terrestrial broadcaster Five. The show has also been sold
to France 5, Nickelodeon Australia, YLE in Finland, NRK in Norway, SVT in
Sweden and TV2 in Denmark. This year, the show will launch as a flagship show on
Cartoon Network in the U.S., Canada’s Teletoon, Disney U.K., Discovery Kids
Latin America and Germany’s Super RTL.
CCI Entertainment

DIC Entertainment’s former company sales executive, Kerstin Guehne, has been
named vice president of International Television and Home Entertainment Sales
for German-speaking and central Europe.
DIC Entertainment

Licensing 2005 International, the premier event where promotion, retail, and
licensing executives can forge partnerships with brand and entertainment
marketers, will take place June 21-23, 2005 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention
Center in New York.
Licensing Show

Lifetime Real Women, the reality-centric sister station of Lifetime
Television and Lifetime Movie Network, has reached a distribution agreement with
DirecTV, and will be offered in the DirecTV Total Choice Plus and Total Choice
Premier packages when it launches next week.
Lifetime

AXN, Sony Pictures Television International’s worldwide network dedicated to
action, adventure and entertainment, has begun broadcasting on cablecom,
Switzerland’s leading cable network.
Sony Pictures

Twentieth Century Fox has signed a far-reaching deal with Canadian
broadcaster Global TV. Under the deal, Global TV has acquired telecast rights for new
series “My Name is Earl,” “The Inside” and “Head Cases,” as well as existing
series “Arrested Development,” “Boston Legal” and “Family Guy,” among
others.
Fox

The pre-MIPCOM issue of VideoAge is coming out in September, with a focus on:

* Children's TV at MIPCOM Jr.
* Reality TV
* Cinema in Italy (Venice Film Festival)
* Cinema in Canada (Montreal and Toronto Film Festivals)
* TV in Greece

For more information on deadlines and special advertising packages, contact
Dom Serafini at dsvideoag@aol.com

This newsletter is also available at www.videoageinternational.com

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