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Monthly Archives : April 2008

Philips Tunes Out Making TVs for U.S.

Royal Philips Electronics will stop making televisions for sale in North America in September, and will outsource production of Philips and Magnavox TVs to Funai Electric for at least five years. Philips said the transfer of North American television operations…

Pinkner of ‘Lost’ to run Abrams Fox Drama

Fox signed “Lost” executive producer Jeff Pinkner to run science-fiction drama “Fringe,” which was created in part by J.J. Abrams for Fox, the Hollywood Reporter says. In addition to ABC’s “Lost,” Mr. Pinkner had worked with Mr. Abrams as an…

Helfer, Pounder Sign for Pilots

Fox Broadcasting signed “Battlestar Galactica” co-star Tricia Helfer for a yet-to-be determined series, the Hollywood Reporter said. Meanwhile, CBS signed CCH Pounder, whose credits include “The Shield,” to star in drama series “The Tower,” while the CW got Michael Trevino,…

Burton, 55, Discovered Child Stars

Iris Burton, the casting agent whose clients included child television stars Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Fred Savage, died last weekend in Woodland Hills, Calif., at age 77 after suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and pneumonia, Daily Variety reports. Ms….

Planet Green Taps Star Power

Planet Green is adding more celebrity power to its lineup. The new eco-lifestyle channel launching June 4 announced additional programming plans as part of parent Discovery Communications’ upfront presentation to ad buyers Tuesday in Los Angeles. Adrian Grenier, Tom Bergeron,…

Mark Burnett, AEG Ink Multiplatform Deal

Mark Burnett Productions has partnered with event production company AEG to create original content for multiplatform distribution. The multiyear deal gives AEG clearance to produce live entertainment based on MBP’s reality television and game show properties, which include “Survivor,” “The…

Matluck Exits Lifetime Post

John Matluck, senior VP for advertising sales, is leaving Lifetime Networks, which last month hired Debbie Richman from media agency OMD to head its sales organization. Mr. Matluck, who has been with Lifetime for 20 years, had effectively been in…

Disney Renews Distribution Deal With SBS

Disney-ABC International Television has renewed its live-action distribution agreement with broadcaster SBS. SBS, which broadcasts across Belgium and the Netherlands, will distribute “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Ugly Betty,” “Dirty Sexy Money” and “Samantha Who?” as well as other prime-time programming under…

thePlatform to Power CelebTV Video

Online video technology firm thePlatform struck a deal with celebrity news site www.celebTV.com to power the video on the site. Under the agreement, CelebTV.com will use thePlatform to manage and publish both video and ads that CelebTV.com distributes to AOL…

Arqiva to Uplink Voom’s Rush HD

Voom HD Networks has tapped Arqiva, a broadcast and communications technology company, to supply fiber connectivity and uplinking for its new high-def extreme sports channel Rush HD. Under the deal, Arqiva will uplink Rush HD to its Eurobird satellite, making…