Fifty years ago–on May 25, 1969, to be exact—United Artists walked into one of the all-time great film rating messes when it released John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy with the Motion Picture Association of America's dreaded "X–Persons under 17 not admitted." When Variety reviewed it on May 14, the movie, about a…

Sky's international distribution division Sky Vision is set to be folded into NBC Universal's Global Distribution unit following Comcast's $39B purchase of the British pay-TV giant. This marks the first major move to bring together the enlarged company's assets following the sale and is expected to lead to a number of…

The BFI London Film Festival’s 63rd edition will run between October 2-13 this year, led by festival director Tricia Tuttle in her second outing at the helm. Last year’s festival was held between October 10-21, opening with the international premiere of Steve McQueen’s Widows and closing with the world premiere of…

NBC Universal will continue to sell shows to rival platforms and streamers after it launches its own SVOD service but has warned that some of its hits are currently "under monetized" online. Steve Burke, CEO of the Comcast-owned Hollywood studio, said that that ad-supported streaming service, which will launch in…

NBC reality chief Paul Telegdy has stated that Comcast acquiring Sky would be a "great thing" that would lead to further collaboration between the European pay-TV giant and the Hollywood studio. Telegdy gave his thoughts on the drawn out mega-merger at the Edinburgh International TV Festival, where he was giving the…

Comcast posted mixed quarterly financial results – beating earnings estimates but falling short of revenue targets. The company, which is in a bidding war to acquire European pay-TV operator Sky, increased its broadband subscribers by 260,000 with broadcast TV revenue growing 6.7% to $2.2B. It reached $21.74B in…

Dick Wolf's FBI, the reboot of Charmed and Aaron Kaplan's A Million Little Things are heading to Belgium after CBS Studios International closed a deal with RTL. The shows are part of a multi-year licensing agreement that also includes the rights to broadcast current and library series from CBS and The CW including NCIS…

Alec Baldwin is enjoying a resurgence with his performance of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live but imagine what fun could be had at the expense of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy. Italian broadcaster Sky Italia has ordered its own local version of the NBC Universal entertainment format. The broadcaster is launching its…

NBC Universal has become the latest Hollywood studio to publish positive gender pay statistics out of the UK. The company pays men 3.2% more on a mean basis and 6.2% on a median basis. However, when it comes to the gender pay gap in terms of bonuses, it found that women make 5.5% more on a mean basis and 23% on a…

UPDATED with 21st Century Fox statement, 10:45 AM: NBC Universal Chief Executive Steve Burke believes that Comcast's potential $31B acquisition of European pay-TV giant Sky will double the company's footprint in English-language content and will boost its scripted TV and movie fortunes. Burke, speaking this afternoon…

BBC Worldwide has increased its stake in Clerkenwell Films, the British production company behind Netflix co-production The End of the F***ing World. The commercial arm of the British public broadcaster has increased its stake from 25% to 48% in the Murray Ferguson-run firm, which also produced series including Misfits…

NBCUniversal’s channels will stay on DirecTV and U-verse for the long-term future after the media giant and AT&T agreed to extend their distribution deal. Customers of the satcaster and broadband-based TV service will continue to have access to NBCU broadcast and cable fare live and on-demand via linear television…