Latest in UK TV

EXCLUSIVE: The latest development in the Pact and Bectu TV drama saga has been set as Pact draws up a new offer for Bectu to deliver to its members. The indie trade body and broadcasting union have been negotiating over the past month after the deadline for the TV Drama Agreement – governing areas such as working…

Kate Bulkley is covering MIPTV at Cannes for Deadline Charlie Sheen — international reality star? Endemol's Big Brother will be back on UK screens this summer with a celebrity version that could include the troubled US actor, according to UK press reports. Endemol executives, including CEO Ynon Kreiz, celebrated at…

Today sees huge changes in the British media landscape. Jeremy Hunt, the UK culture secretary, has approved Rupert Murdoch's controversial bid to buy the 61% of pay-TV broadcaster BSkyB he does not already own. Hunt has decided not to refer News Corp's £7.5 billion bid to UK antitrust regulator the Competition…

EXCLUSIVE: Studio Lambert, the reality TV production company behind CBS’ Undercover Boss, has formed a production partnership deal with Nutopia, the production company launched by former Discovery Channel President and BBC Two controller Jane Root. All American versions of Nutopia's U.K.-created formats will be…

The £415 million price tag is on the low end of what analysts had expected News Corporation to pay for the Brit independent TV company. The deal had been valued at anything up to £700 million ($1.1 billion). News Corp has bought Liz Murdoch's company on a multiple of 8 times its estimated 2011 profits of £50 million…

Broadcast For Royal Wedding Could Be 3D As Well As High-Def Lifetime Readies Prince William-Kate Middleton Movie Planning for Prince William's marriage to Kate Middleton is still at an early stage – despite the wedding taking place on April 29th. The BBC is expected to lead TV coverage of the event, which may well be…

Company Pictures, the Brit production company which makes Skins for MTV, is "extremely surprised" by the show's U.S. furor. Especially as the first three seasons of the raunchier Brit version aired on BBC America virtually without controversy — albeit with nudity pixillated and swearing dipped. The Brit version has…

UPDATE: That’s the word from UK news media. It's just one of a number of options being considered by Shine, one of the UK's and America’s biggest independent production companies — it bought Ben Silverman’s Reveille — and thought to be worth between $980 million and $1.3 billion. Elizabeth Murdoch has appointed JP…

Channel 4 Boss Talks Film David Abraham, CEO of Channel 4, will speak about his channel's filmmaking for the first time at the British Screen Advisory Council (BSAC) Film Conference on March 3. Ed Vaizey, the UK arts minister, will be giving the other keynote speech. James Corden Starts BBC Comedy Pilot The comedian…

City and media analysts agree that it's almost certain News Corp will now get approval to buy the 61% of BSkyB it doesn't own. The deal would cement Rupert Murdoch's position as the most powerful media magnate in the world. Investec Securities, the investment bank, says it's now 90% certain the deal will go ahead…

Jeremy Hunt, the UK culture secretary – and a man known to be sympathetic to the Murdoch media empire – will now decide whether News Corp's £7.8 billion ($12.5 billion) takeover of BSkyB gets referred to the Competition Commission. Business secretary Vince Cable disqualified himself from the role this afternoon after…

Here’s the game-changer: BSkyB is thinking about broadcasting the April 29th Royal Wedding in 3D. TV experts wonder if Prince Williams' wedding to commoner Kate Middleton might be the technology boost that the Queen's 1953 Coronation was when many England’ers bought their first TV sets to watch that royal spectacle…