VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW*

PROGRAMMING
Having already mastered live-action comedy, The Office co-creator Ricky Gervais is trying his hand at animation. Gervais will adapt his humorous "Flanimals" book series into a TV series that will air in primetime on Britain's ITV. Humorous fantasy creatures will star in six 30-minute episodes, written and narrated by Gervais himself. They are expected to be ready to air by the end of 2007.
Reuters U.K.

In the Middle East, home shopping isn't confined to one retail-focused net anymore. Free-to-air broadcaster Middle East Broadcasting (MBC) will air home shopping net Citruss TV's shows daily for a one-hour block, Monday to Thursday on MBC 4. Although the initial agreement is just for one month, Citruss TV and MBC see this as a important first step to bring quality home shopping to the TV audience in the Middle East by combining Citruss' effective back office and attractive shows with MBC's leadership in the TV landscape.
AME Info

BUSINESS
In a move reminiscent of a plot in one of its telenovelas, after months-long deliberation, Univision has shut out offers from Grupo Televisa and decided to accept a $12.3 billion bid from a consortium of private equity firms (including Haim Saban). Televisa contends that it had been deliberately shunned in favor of a lesser bid and may discuss suing Univision, arguing that the board breached its fiduciary duty to shareholders by not engaging in further negotiations.
The New York Times

The Al Aqariya Group, one of the United Arab Emirates' leading real-estate-focused media companies, will develop an AED500 million (U.S.$136 million) complex in Dubai Studio City. The media complex, which will be home to Al Aqariya's headquarters, will also include massive television studios, a media center and a commercial facility.
AME Info

TECHNOLOGY
Singapore's sole all-news channel is going mobile. Channel NewsAsia has begun providing third-generation (3G) mobile service subscribers with mobile TV news reports. The one-minute news clips are sent to Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) subscribers twice a day, Monday through Friday, and are in English and Mandarin. Thanks to a 100 percent mobile phone penetration rate, many mobile phone makers regard Singapore as the next potentially large market for mobile TV.
Xinhua

Public TV is going digital in the U.S. Verizon has signed an agreement with The Association of Public Television Stations and Public Broadcast Service to carry local public stations' digital programming. Subscribers to Verizon's fiber-optic FiOS TV service will be able to watch their public television in high definition.
United Press International

ADVERTISING
As each network's numbers continue to roll in, this year's upfronts appear to have raked in less money than in past years. After years of speculation as to how and when the digital revolution would finally cut into networks' upfront payday, it seems this may be the year. TV's take could be down as much as $600 million.
Advertising Age

Accepting the fact that it really can't beat 'em, NBC has finally agreed to join 'em. Just months after ordering YouTube to take down copyrighted video, NBC has struck a deal with the popular video-sharing site to promote its fall lineup. In a 'if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours'' deal, YouTube will hype NBC's videos throughout the site, while the broadcaster will send viewers to YouTube via "significant" on-air promotions.
Advertising Age

CONTROVERSY
The operator of leading Czech television station TV Nova has filed a lawsuit against Czech broadcasting regulators for failing to grant the station digital broadcasting rights. In April, Czech TV and radio regulator RRTV awarded six licenses for digital-TV broadcasting, awarding several new players access to the Czech TV market. But RRTV granted no license to TV Nova, which had applied for several digital broadcasting rights.
Prague Daily Monitor

AWARDS SHOWS
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is committed to giving everyone a decent shot at the coveted Emmy awards, and this year, new nomination procedures are aimed at spreading the wealth. In past years, Academy members' peers voted on eligible shows, with the top five vote-getters in each category being named as nominees. Smaller panels of peer-group members then chose the winner. This year, an interim step has been added. The first vote narrows the eligible shows to a list of 10 or 15 potential nominees, and a specially chosen committee then screens and rates an episode of each of those shows, with the ratings used to narrow the list to five. Then a larger panel of peer-group members votes to determine the winner. So, performers and shows that might not have placed high enough in a popular vote get another chance to impress their peers.
The New York Times

FILM
Oscar-winning Czech director Jiri Menzel has just completed shooting I Served the King of England, which tells the story of one Czech waiter's life, spanning the time right after World War II through the 1960s. Before shooting could begin, a few problems had to be tackled: disputes flared over film rights (the film was adapted from a novel by late Czech author Bohumil Hrabal) and over which filmmaker would make it. Menzel eventually was chosen among four candidates.
Prague Daily Monitor

An apparent funding crisis in Quebec is prompting filmmakers to ask for help. About 15 filmmakers met with Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda last week, asking her to add $20-million to the Canadian Feature Film Fund and earmark the dollars for Telefilm Canada's Quebec office. Oda has promised to talk with the province's filmmakers early next month to present what her press secretary calls "creative solutions" to the crisis.
The Globe and Mail

***Please note that the VideoAge's offices will be closed from July 3-July 23, reopening on the 24th. "Paper Clips" will be on hiatus during that time and will return on Wednesday, July 25. Have a happy July!

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