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Channel 5 has bought firstrun U.K. TV rights to police drama 'The Shield' from Columbia TriStar Intl. Television. The terrestrial will air the series for 13 weeks beginning Sept. [...]

LONDON -- The new Archbishop of Canterbury, worldwide leader of the Anglican Church, has condemned the influence of Disney on children's lives. The government appointed Dr. Rowan Williams archbishop on [...]

LONDON -- The U.K. government is considering backing a TV version of the BBC World Service, the pubcaster's global radio network. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office plans to revamp BBC [...]

LONDON -- Liberty Media has dropped its bid to take control of troubled U.K. cabler Telewest by buying 20% of its bonds. In June, John Malone's cable giant, which owns [...]

Mark Collen has been upped to senior VP, global marketing, EMI Recorded Music. Collen, managing director of EMI's Chrysalis label for four years, will oversee the marketing of imprint Capitol's [...]

A Jameson Short Film Award was awarded Sunday to Jorge Cramez for 'Venus Velvet' at the Festival Internacional de Curtas Metragens in Vila do Conde, Portugal. Six of the 10 [...]

British music major EMI has appointed Caryn Tomlinson to the new position of director, artist relations. Tomlinson will report to EMI Recorded Music's chairman and CEO Alain Levy and vice [...]

LONDON -- Madonna will appear in a cameo role in the new James Bond film, 'Die Another Day.' The 43-year-old pop icon will appear alongside Bond star Pierce Brosnan and [...]

LONDON -- Cash-strapped U.K. cabler Telewest is to start talks with its bondholders and major shareholder Liberty Media on restructuring its [pounds sterling]5.3 billion ($8.1 billion) in debt. A majority [...]

LONDON -- Buena Vista Intl. Television has named Steve Copestake vice president for marketing. Copesake joins BVI-TV from U.K. satcaster BSkYB, where he was in charge of marketing communications. BVI-TV [...]

LONDON -- ITV programming supremo David Liddiment is stepping down after five years on the job. Liddiment ankles as director of channels on the heels of a difficult year for [...]

LONDON -- Sam Peckinpah's classic 'Straw Dogs,' which includes a controversial rape scene, has finally been passed uncut for video release in the U.K., 30 years after its theatrical release. [...]

LONDON -- Universal and U.K. commercial giant ITV have agreed on a licensing deal for the terrestrial TV rights to the studio's 2001-03 feature releases. The multimillion-dollar accord, which includes [...]

LONDON -- Barclay Knapp will remain CEO of U.K.-based cabler NTL after it emerges from Chapter 11 in the U.S., the company's creditors have determined. The New York Stock Exchange-listed [...]

AOL-Time Warner and EMI have combined to thwart MTV's bid for unchallenged dominance of the German music TV market. AOL-TW acquired EMI's 15.3% stake in music channel Viva on June [...]

LONDON -- Alan Parker has been re-appointed chairman of the U.K.'s Film Council for two more years. The vet helmer ('Angela's Ashes,' 'The Commitments') has chaired the government-sponsored org since [...]

LONDON -- HIT Entertainment, home of 'Barney' and 'Bob the Builder,' is poised to take over fellow kidvidder Gullane Entertainment, owner of 'Thomas the Tank Engine,' in a [pounds sterling]139 [...]

LONDON -- Brit music major EMI has sold its 15.3% stake in German music web Viva to AOL Time Warner for [euro]52.3 million ($50.8 million). Deal is in line with [...]

Brit music major EMI confirmed Thursday that it gave Ken Berry a [pounds sterling]6 million ($9 million) payoff after replacing the former head of EMI Recorded Music with Main Levy [...]

LONDON -- U.K. praisery MaxWorks has become the TV division of Premier PR, the public relations firm created in September by the merger of Corbett & Keene, Falco Ink and [...]

LONDON -- AOL Time Warner mogul Ted Turner has irritated Israel's government by accusing Israelis and Palestinians of terrorism against each other. In an interview with the British press on [...]

LONDON -- Bondholders in troubled U.K. cabler Telewest rejected Liberty Media's offer of [pounds sterling]237 million ($350 million) for 20% of their bonds on Monday. The bondholders, who own $5.3 [...]

Nickelodeon U.K. will launch digital TV channel Nick Toons July 22. The service, to be carried by satcaster BSkyB and cabler NTL, will be aimed at 4- to 9-year-olds. Nickelodeon [...]

U.K. vid-on-demand outfit Video Networks is cutting 300 employees, half of its workforce. Ax comes as the company freezes its customer growth and seeks [pounds sterling]60 million ($87.5 million) in [...]

LONDON -- U.K. indie Gruber Films and Thames Television have agreed to co-produce 'The Farmer Wants a Wife,' a feature based on the Thames documentary TV series of the same [...]

LONDON -- U.K. indies Giant Films and Fat Melon Films have pacted with Patagonik Film to make U.K.-Argentina co-production 'Playing for the Enemy,' a dramedy about a Falkland Islander who [...]

LONDON -- The U.K. government has said it plans to keep the license fee to fund the BBC, rejecting alternative options, including privatization. U.K. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said Wednesday [...]

LONDON Drama has made a comeback on the BBC after playing second fiddle to quizzers and reality TV in recent years. The spy drama 'Spooks' bowed on the pubcaster's flagship [...]

LONDON -- EMI and BMG have agreed to a deal for EMI to license BMG's repertoire in the Greek market. The British music major will be responsible for marketing, promotion [...]

LONDON -- Granada posted a hefty [pounds sterling]191 million ($280 million) first-half loss Thursday, as it accounts for the collapse of joint paybox ITV Digital and the advertising recession. The [...]

LONDON -- The new James Bond pic, 'Die Another Day,' will make its world premiere as this year's Royal Film Performance Nov. 18 in London. The venue for the gala [...]

LONDON -- TV company Carlton Communications has posted a first-half loss of [pounds sterling]178 million ($259 million), compared with a loss of $413 million for the same period last year, [...]

LONDON -- HIT Entertainment, the U.K. company that owns 'Bob the Builder' and 'Barney the Dinosaur,' has offered [pounds sterling]158 million ($230 million) for Gullane Entertainment, home of 'Thomas the [...]

Cabler NTL has bought the customer database of collapsed terrestrial paybox ITV Digital. The list contains the details of 2 million former ITV Digital customers that NTL intends to target [...]

Buena Vista Intl. Television has agreed to a multiyear programming supply deal with Belgian broadcaster RTL TV1. Deal includes pics 'Pearl Harbor' and '102 Dalmatians,' action adventure series 'Alias' and [...]

Thomas Middelhoff, chairman and chief exec of German media giant Bertelsmann, will give this year's Worldview Address at the Edinburgh Intl. Television Festival. Bertelsmann is the parent of RTL Group, [...]

LONDON -- The deadline for submitting bids for the broadcasting licenses of collapsed paybox ITV Digital has been extended by eight working days to give the U.K.'s terrestrials a chance [...]

LONDON -- Brit music major EMI has appointed James Anderson senior VP of EMI Recorded Music, with responsibility for information technology. Anderson joins EMI from management and technology consultancy Accenture, [...]

LONDON -- Carlton Communications and Thomson Multimedia have partnered to take over the cinema advertising interests of France's UGC and Belgian broadcaster RTBF in a 100 million ($91 million) deal. [...]

LONDON -- The BBC is losing [pounds sterling]141 million ($204 million) per year because of TV viewers who do not pay their license fees. According to the U.K.'s National Audit [...]

BSkyB could be hit with a tax on its use of the U.K.'s broadcasting spectrum, according to the fine print of Britain's draft communications bill unveiled last week. The tax [...]

LONDON -- Video and DVD sales of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' surpassed 1.25 million units Saturday, its first day of release in the U.K., surpassing 'Titanic's' 1.1 million [...]

LONDON -- Mick Pilsworth, chief exec of Chrysalis Television, has quit after nine years. Chrysalis Group's TV division, which Pilsworth effectively built, was a [pounds sterling]63 million ($92 million) business [...]

LONDON -- ITV chief exec Stuart Prebble has become the first top-level casualty at the U.K.'s biggest commercial web after the demise of terrestrial paybox ITV Digital. Prebble ankled Thursday [...]

Brit music major EMI has named Erwin Goegebeur prexy of EMI Recorded Music Belgium. Goegebeur will oversee the Capitol and Virgin labels in line with the local management restructuring EMI [...]

The BBC is setting up an avantgarde record label, Late Junction, based on the BBC Radio 3 show of the same name. Venture, part of BBC Music within BBC Worldwide, [...]

LONDON -- Crippled paybox ITV Digital ceased broadcasting at midnight U.K. time Tuesday after administrators failed to find a buyer for the business as a going concern. The shutdown ends [...]

LONDON -- The U.K.'s Channel 4 plunged [pounds sterling]20.6 million ($30 million) into the red in 2001, the terrestrial's first loss in 10 years. C4, which made a profit of [...]

Pay TV is pooping out all over Europe. In fact, movie channels and the digital platforms that carry them are finding it tough to survive in all the major Euro [...]

LONDON -- ITV Digital's administrators admitted they failed to find funding for the crippled pay service and put its assets up for sale Thursday. The news ends the world's first [...]