MUMBAI: Shine International and Fox International Channels (Fic) have taken global telecast rights for ?The Bridge?.

?The Bridge? will air across Fic?s entertainment channel portfolio of 200 pay-TV networks to audiences in 120 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

The show will air in the US on FX later this year.

According to the deal, Fic will get first-window pay broadcast rights globally.

Fic president, CEO Hernan Lopez said, "We can?t wait to turn ?The Bridge? into the biggest new worldwide hit".

Fic executive VP, global scripted programming, original development Sharon Tal Yguado said, "We?ve been excited and interested in ?The Bridge? since we identified the format more than a year ago. It is rare to come across a project that bucks convention by marrying provocative themes with grounded storytelling and characters. We are thrilled to be partnering with Shine International and working with Shine America and FX on this outstanding drama."

Shine International CEO Nadine Nohr said, "We are delighted to confirm FIC as the first international broadcast partner for ?The Bridge?. This distinctive series places the brilliant central conceit against the unique setting and sociopolitical context of the Mexican-US border beautifully allowing a new and extraordinary story to unfold. We are proud to represent such an ambitious and riveting drama."

NEW DELHI: The National Geographic Channel (NGC) has emerged as the top infotainment channel largely because of digitisation in the three metros of Mumbaim Delhi and Kolkata, according to a senior NGC official.

FOX International Channels Vice-President of Marketing and Communication Debarpita Banerjee told indiantelevision.com that the channel was now in a comfortable position with regard to both subscriptions and advertisement revenue. She noted that NGC had achieved break even in India several years earlier.

She said that NGC telecasts 25 to 30 hours of Indian programming every week and that the Facebook page of National Geographic had over one million fans.

Banerjee was speaking on the sidelines of the announcement of a new show ?MyEndeavouralterrain?, a new adventure series launched in collaboration with Ford India.

The show will feature five prominent personalities - author Chetan Bhagat, boxer Vijendra Singh, filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor, and actors Gul Panag and Rajeev Khandelwal - driving to their favourite destinations on Ford Endeavour cars and the experiences they encounter en route.

The five will embark on their journeys in mid-March, and the show was expected to be on air in mid-May in five episodes of one hour each, Banerjee said.

She said the aim of the programme was to create new content and explore new regions in India.

While Chetan Bhagat will be traveling from Ahmedabad to Junagarh to meet India?s own tribe which owes its origins to Africa, Vijendra Singh will travel to Rajasthan which he said he had never visited till the Indo-Pak border post. Gul Panag will drive from Goa to Hampi via Karwar as she had always wanted to go to Karnataka.

Nagesh Kukunoor, who will be going from Mannar to Coorg, said all his films were urban and he wanted to explore the rural countryside for his next road film which he had been planning for long. He also said he wanted to complete an unfinished road trip he had been making in 1995 but which he had abandoned mid-way on the same route.

Khandelwal said he would drive from Dibrugarh in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, and recounted an adventure he had undertaken with his brother and some army jawans some years earlier by coming down the Brahmaputra in tyre boats.

Ford India Marketing Sales Executive Director Vinay Piparsania said the idea was also to show how these celebrities would handle the large SUV cars.

MUMBAI: US broadcaster Fox chairman of entertainment Kevin Reilly and COO Joe Earley have announced a restructuring and expansion of the network?s programming team designed to foster the company?s expanding programming efforts.

Beginning immediately, the following leadership changes are in effect:

• James Oh has been promoted to senior VP, current programming. In this role he will oversee production and creative coverage of all of Fox?s new and returning scripted series, including ?The Following?, ?Bones?, ?New Girl?, ?Raising Hope?, ?Glee?, and ?The Simpsons?. Oh will report to Earley and will assume the day-to-day management of the network?s entire current Programming team.
• Shana C Waterman has been named senior VP, event series and multi-platform programming, a newly-created department within Fox dedicated to managing the network?s limited-run and digital programming initiatives. Waterman will commission and develop long-form event series for Fox, working closely with FX Productions, and separately will oversee the content in the network?s new multi-platform programming, including Animation Domination High-Def (ADHD), The Short-Com Comedy Hour (working title), WIGS and other digital-to-broadcast efforts. She will report to Reilly.
   

In addition, Fox has hired Kiliaen Van Rensselaer as senior VP, Multi-Platform Programming. Previously News Corp senior VP, digital media Van Rensselaer will serve as the senior operational executive dedicated to Fox?s multi-platform programming and will work closely with Earley and Waterman to manage and grow that business.

Reilly said, "These appointments are an investment in some of our top people to strengthen our core programming business and take strategic steps forward with alternative platforms to incubate talent and ideas.

"With James - our ?go-to? Current exec for many years - heading up our Current team, Shana - a creative self-starter who has driven some of Fox?s most exciting initiatives - now heading up our Event Series and Multi-Platform efforts and Kiliaen - a key player from News Corp."

MUMBAI: US broadcaster Fox?s channel FX has placed a 13-episode order for ?The Bridge?, a new drama series from Writer/Producers Meredith Stiehm and Elwood Reid starring Demi?n Bichir and Diane Kruger.

The announcement was made by FX Networks president, GM John Landgraf. Production begins in April and the series premieres in July. ?The Bridge? is a co-production of Shine America and FX Productions.

Set on the border between El Paso and Juarez, ?The Bridge? centers on two detectives, one from the US and another from Mexico, who must work together to hunt down a serial killer operating on both sides of the US-Mexican border.

It will be distributed by Shine International.

Landgraf said, "For years networks have been trying to develop a drama series set on the US-Mexican border without any success. I?m thrilled to say that Meredith Stiehm and Elwood Reid have become the first to crack that creative code and they have done so magnificently. There have been great films set in that world - ?No Country for Old Men? and ?Lone Star? come to mind - but never a great TV series. This one is special. The setting, the writing, the direction, and the way it is brought to life by Demi?n Bichir, Diane Kruger and the rest of the cast makes for truly riveting drama."

Stiehm and Reid said, "Working with FX has been amazing. The border has so many rich and compelling stories to tell and John Landgraf, Nick Grad and Eric Schrier, along with the Shine America team, are just as excited as we are to bring those stories to life."

Shine America CEO Rich Ross said, "We are thrilled to partner with FX on ?The Bridge,? a series with tremendous auspices and a very strong international pedigree. As our first scripted series launch under the new Shine America banner, we could not be more proud of the team that has been assembled by Meredith, Elwood and Carolyn."