MUMBAI: Cableready, the international television programme distribution and development company, has closed a series of global sales and renewal agreements which collectively exceed 315 hours of programming. The announcement was made by president, CEO Gary Lico.

He said, "As illustrated by the latest round of new deals and renewals, Cableready‘s diverse catalogue continues to attract return customers as well as forging new relationships with various broadcasters and platforms. We look to continue this momentum as we head to Mipcom."

The following sales and renewals deals have been closed by CABLEready as it prepares for the Mipcom market in Cannes, France next week:

? HBO Central Europe licensed 26 episodes of ‘Inside the Actors Studio‘, the long running interview series hosted by James Lipton, including the Brad Pitt episode.

? Multicanal (Spain) licensed six episodes of ‘Big Five Challenge‘, the African safari contestant show.

? NBCUniversal Latin America licensed 10 additional episodes of entertainment news magazine series ‘Hollywood Dailies‘.

? Turner Latin America licensed 50 episodes of movie countdown series ‘Hollywood‘s Top Ten‘.

? After a successful premiere with episode one, AETN‘s Bio (US) licensed episodes two through five of ‘Women on Death Row‘, a documentary series that offers a glimpse into the lives of woman who have committed the ultimate crime ? murder.

? Discovery‘s Destination America (US) licensed 11 titles from LMNO Productions, including ‘Secrets of Muscle Cars‘, ‘Secrets of High End Hawaii‘ and ‘World‘s Best Orlando‘.

? AETN UK has renewed season 12 of ‘Medical Detectives‘.

? Foxtel (Australia) renewed seasons one through five, as well as seasons 11 and 13 of ‘Forensic Files‘, a series that takes viewers through every step of a forensic investigations.

? MSM (Singapore) renewed 52 episodes of ‘Hollywood One on One‘, the series that gives viewers an up-close and uncensored look at the world‘s biggest films and top actors.

? Intra Communications (Russia) licensed 13 episodes of ‘The Minimalist‘, cooking series featuring New York Times food writer, culinary expert and TV personality Mark Bittman.

? SoHo Channel (New Zealand) licensed five episodes of ‘Inside the Actors Studio‘, including the Judd Apatow episode.

? Studio U7 (Russia) licensed 19 episodes of the procedural crime series ‘Medical Detectives‘.

? Hulu.com (US digital) licensed 13 titles from Alliant Content, including ‘Accident Investigator‘, ‘Billion Dollar Disasters‘, ‘Black Widow Women‘, ‘Fire and Ice‘ and ‘Gods of Destruction‘.

? Proxima Video VOD (Bulgaria) licensed five titles, including ‘Great Museums‘ and ‘It Could Happen Tomorrow‘.

 
CABLEready also licensed episodes of ‘Inside the Actors Studio‘ to several airlines. British Airways, Swiss International Airlines and Etihad Airways licensed the ‘Mad Men‘ episode, Korea Airline licensed the Colin Firth episode and Oman Air licensed the Brad Pitt episode.

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate NBCUniversal will provide 5,535 hours of coverage for the 2012 London Olympics across NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, NBCOlympics.com, two specialty channels, and the first-ever 3D platform.

NBCUniversal will surpasses the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by nearly 2,000 hours. It was also announced that NBC will broadcast 272.5 hours of coverage, the most ever for an Olympic broadcast network, largely attributable to an increase in daytime coverage.

NBC is paying the IOC $1.1 billion for the rights for this event, a 32 per cent jump compared to what it paid for the 2008 edition in China.

NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus said, "We are only able to provide this level of coverage to US viewers because of the unmatched array of NBCUniversal assets. Whether on television or online, on broadcast or cable, in English or in Spanish, NBCUniversal has the London Olympics covered, providing the American viewer with more choices than ever to watch the Games."

NBCUniversal is presenting its 13th Olympic Games and seventh consecutive, both the most by any US media company. ABC is second with 10 and four (twice), respectively.

London will be NBCUniversal?s seventh consecutive Summer Games, having presented each one since Seoul in 1988.

The 5,535 hours are the equivalent of 231 days of coverage.

NBCUniversal will average 291 hours of coverage per day over London?s 19 days (including two days of soccer competition prior to the Opening Ceremony).

The networks of NBCU will provide coverage of all 32 sports and all 302 medal competitions.

NBC will broadcast 272.5 hours of London Olympic coverage over 17 days, the most extensive coverage ever provided by an Olympic broadcast network, and nearly 50 hours more than the 225 hours for Beijing in 2008.

Daytime coverage has increased significantly for London. Coverage will begin on most weekdays at 10 a.m. ET/PT, immediately following NBC News? TODAY, which is originating from London.

On weekends, NBC?s daytime coverage will begin as early as 5 am.

NBC Sports Network will serve as the home to US team sports, with 292.5 hours of total coverage from 2012 London Olympics this summer, including 257.5 hours of original programming - an average of more than 14 hours per day - the most-ever for an Olympic cable network.

MSNBC will carry 155.5 hours of a wide variety of long-form Olympic programming over 19 days.

CNBC will serve as the home of Olympic boxing this summer, including the debut of women?s boxing. The channel will televise 73 hours of boxing coverage over 16 days -- from elimination bouts to the men?s and women?s finals.

Bravo will act as the home of Olympic tennis this summer, televising 56 hours of long-form tennis coverage from July 28-August 3.

NBCOlympics.com will live stream every event and sport for the first time ever. In all, the site will live stream more than 3,500 total programming hours, including the awarding of all 302 medals.

NBCOlympics.com will live stream NBCU cable channels NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo, which will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers.

Two apps - one focused on live streaming, one on short-form highlights, schedules, results, columns, and more - will be available for mobile and tablet users. The vast majority of content will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers.

NBCUniversal also announced the Spanish-language Olympic coverage in the company?s history, offering more than 173 hours of the upcoming London 2012 Olympics on elemundo."

The 173 hours of Spanish-language coverage by Telemundo nearly equals the total coverage broadcast by NBC for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (176.5).

Specialty channels for basketball and soccer are available to cable, satellite and telco providers, and will total 770 hours of coverage.

Panasonic US and the NBC Sports Group announced in January that they will partner to make the London 2012 Olympic Games available in 3D to all U.S. distributors who carry Olympic coverage on cable, satellite and telco -- nearly 100 per cent of the multichannel industry.

The effort will produce 242 hours of coverage and mark the first time that the Olympic Games will be distributed in the U.S. in 3D.

MUMBAI: Comcast Corp. owned NBCUniversal will sell a substantial portion of its stake in A&E Television Networks to joint venture partners, according to the company?s filing with Securities and Exchange Commission last week.

Comcast expects the deal, which is believed to be worth about $2 billion, to close in the second half of 2012. The company owns almost 15.8 percent in A&E, which it acquired through its acquisition of NBCU from GE Electric.

Earlier, NBCU had brought down its ownership from the initial 25 per cent it held as of late 2009.

A&E Networks, a joint venture of Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corp and Comcast?s NBCU, comprises channels such as A&E Network, Lifetime, History, LMN, BIO, H2, Crime & Investigation Network, Military History, and Lifetime Real Women.

The Walt Disney Company along with Hearst Corporation are the majority shareholders in A&E with 42.1 per cent and 42.2 per cent stake respectively.

MUMBAI: Hulu, co-owned by News Corp, Disney and NBCUniversal, is making substantial investments in original content.

One of the shows announced at its upfront is ?The Awesomes? from Seth Meyers and producer Michael Shoemaker. It is about an unassuming superhero and his cohorts who battle diabolical villains, the ever-present paparazzi and a less-than-ideal reputation as second-class crimefighters.

Hulu also sent a message to the ad fraternity that online video is a medium that they cannot afford to ignore.

Hulu?s head of advertising Jean-Paul Colaco said, "Online video is exploding. It?s a tremendous time of transformation and Hulu is the catalyst for that growth."

Other shows announced include ?Up To Speed?. This is a Richard Linklater reality show that follows tour guide, historian and ?flaneur Timothy ?Speed? Levitch as he visits somewhat obscure monuments in American cities. ?We Got Next? is a male targetted show about four men who form an unlikely friendship around their mutual love of pick-up basketball.

?Don?t Quit Your Daydream? is an adaptation of Grenier?s documentary featuring famous musicians searching for could-have-been stars and giving them a second chance. ?Flow? is about Ed Dante, a hard-working kid from the wrong side of the tracks who is framed for a crime he didn?t commit. He begins a quest to deliver true justice. To achieve his goal, he must discover the mysteries of an ancient art, uncover hidden worlds and become a hero to a generation.

The company said that Americans watched 2.5 billion videos on it in February -- about 1,000 videos a second. Hulu also said that it held 20 per cent of the online video market and 40 per cent of the premium video market. It said that its more than two million paid subscribers have made its $8-per-month video subscription service the fastest growing in US history.

Last year Hulu made $420 million in revenue.

MUMBAI: NBCUniversal International today announced that the format of its trivia competition show ?Still Standing? has been sold to Chinese broadcaster, Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation. This is NBCUniversal?s first format sale to China.

NBCUniversal director of format sales liaison Linfield Ng said, ?Still Standing?s mix of classic trivia game, physical comedy and competition make it a great fit for Chinese audiences. We are excited to partner with Jiangsu Satellite, the number one satellite provider across China with more than 130 million viewers.?

Jiangsu will be the first in Asia to debut this format. Jiangsu vice chief president Wang Pei Jie said, ?Still Standing is a perfect fit for our entertainment lineup because it brings together the elements of trivia and physical competition in a brand-new way. We are delighted to be the first in Asia to debut this fun and exciting format on our channel."

Added Armoza formats CEO Avi Armoza, "We are excited that our cooperation with NBCUniversal has enabled Still Standing to travel to an emerging market like China, where we are confident that it will join the format?s international legacy of success."

MUMBAI: Ten Golf, India?s first golf dedicated channel, has entered into a licensing agreement with NBCUniversal International Television Distribution for the exclusive basic cable rights in India to a slate of original programming from the Golf Channel in the U.S.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ten Golf will be showcasing 400 hours of golf programming, including series and news, showcased as a Golf Channel branded block. The channel will offer golf-related titles across a range of genres: Entertainment, News & Analysis, Instruction and Travel.

In addition to the Golf Channel branded block of programming from NBCUniversal, Ten Golf will also air a collection of popular golf events, including PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, European Tour, and WGC HSBC Champions Tournament.

Commenting on the deal, Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande said, "We are proud to announce this landmark content deal with NBCUniversal. This deal underscores our commitment to deliver high quality golf programming for our viewers in India and sub continent. It will offer unmatched and pioneering golf entertainment to audiences in India and across Indian subcontinent."

Pande also said that the channel was in talks with golf rights holders to bring further quality golf properties for viewers and was working with different stakeholders to create a strong platform.

"We are entering into content deals with leading golf rights holders in the near term, providing the viewers with the very best of top quality Golf Content and a viewing experience like never before. Ten Golf is working with all the major stakeholders in golf, including events partners, sponsors and golf courses and golf clubs across the sub-continent to create a formidable golf platform," Pande added.

Ten Golf had entered into a three-year partnership with PGTI to televise the Indian Tour. It also has the rights for Asian Tour, European Tour, US PGA Championship, Ryder Cup and LET, among others.