MUMBAI: US broadcaster Fox has promoted Kevin Reilly to chairman of entertainment.

In his new role, Reilly will oversee all programming, scheduling, marketing, research, digital and business affairs at the network.

Fox Networks Group chairman, CEO Peter Rice said, "Kevin is a uniquely gifted executive with the strong strategic vision and creative instincts to ensure that Fox continues to drive the future of our industry. We are incredibly fortunate to have him here and thrilled he will be with us for many more years."

Fox has over the course of Reilly?s tenure extended its reign as the No. 1 network among Adults 18-49 for a record eight consecutive seasons and has repeatedly dominated among the young Adults 18-34 and Teen demographics. Under his leadership, the network launched ?Glee? and most recently introduced ?New Girl? as well as ?The X Factor?.

MUMBAI: TV networks in the US, Fox, NBC Universal and CBS, have separately sued satellite broadcaster Dish Network to battle the latter?s ad-skipping DVR service AutoHop service that allows consumers to skip television ads.

At the same time, Dish has taken a step to protect its new service by filing a lawsuit against Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC, although ABC has not sued Dish. The network provider sought a "declaratory judgment" that its AutoHop feature is legal arguing, "viewers have been skipping commercials since the advent of the remote control."

Since 10 May, Dish has been advertising a digital video recorder service called ?Primetime Anytime? that gives consumers access to the last eight days of prime-time programming from the four major broadcast networks - ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox - sans the commercials.

Fox released a statement saying that Dish?s service may "destroy the fundamental underpinnings of the broadcast television ecosystem." It added that the wrongheaded decision requires Fox to take swift action in order to aggressively defend the future of free, over-the-air television.

NBC also released a statement explaining that advertisements generate the revenue that makes it possible for local broadcast stations and national broadcast networks to pay for the creation of the news, sports and entertainment programming. The statement further said that Dish did not have the "authority to tamper" with the ads from broadcast replays on a "wholesale basis for its own economic and commercial advantage".

According to CBS, this service takes existing network content and modifies it in a manner that is "unauthorized" and "illegal" making it a clear violation of copyright law.

According to TV ratings and research provider Nielsen, about 40 per cent of the 115 million television households in the US have a DVR. About 8.4 per cent of all TV viewing among adults aged 18 to 34 last year constituted watching programs on DVR which is an increase from about 7.9 per cent in 2010.

MUMBAI: Gearing up for their upfront presentations, leading television networks NBC and Fox have added seven new series to the 2012-13 primetime schedule.

NBC, while renewing Dick Wolf?s Law & Order: SVU, has offered the producer a new drama Chicago Fire. It has also ordered Jimmy Fallon?s comedy pickup Guys With Kids. Also picked up were the comedies Guys with Kids, Go On, Save Me, The New Normal, 1600 Penn and Animal Practice.

Fox has tied-in three comedies including It?s Messy from Universal Television, 20th Century Fox?s Ben & Kate and The Goodwin Games. It has also picked up two dramas, The Mob Doctor and The Following from Sony Pictures TV and Warner Bros.

Fox is also sticking to 20th Century Fox Television?s Touch despite low viewership while axing Alcatraz and The Finder to make room for the dramas.

NBC and Fox are scheduled to showcase their lineups at upfront presentations in New York on Monday.

Meanwhile, AETN Group-owned A&E, History, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, H2 and BIO has decided not to reveal its lineup during upfront presentation. CBS, ABC and Warner Bros. Entertainment-CBS Corporation JV CW Network are yet to form their own development slates.

Early indications from industry experts suggest that the big four broadcasters will see an increase in upfront revenue of between 2 per cent to 4 per cent for the 2012-13 TV season.

The big four plus the CW network should collect between $9.0 billion and $9.2 billion during the upfront season, according to Steve Lanzano, chief executive of TVB, a trade body for TV broadcasters.

MUMBAI: Animation Domination HD, the new animation unit created by US broadcaster Fox, has acquired the rights to the hit comic phenomenon Axe Cop, Axe Cop will premiere as part of Fox?s new Saturday late-prime Animation Domination HD block debuting next year, and across digital platforms.

Animation Domination HD head Nick WeidenfeldWeidenfeld said, "Axe Cop is one of the most creative, hilarious and
naturally viral comic properties to emerge in the last decade. I?ve hoped someone would adapt Axe Cop for television for years and couldn?t be happier that we get to be that someone. Axe Cop has all the makings of an iconic animated series and it will help set the tone for Fox?s new late-prime Saturday animation lineup."

Axe Cop is the first new series in development by Animation Domination HD. The new unit has ordered six quarter-hour episodes of the series. Additional auspices to be announced.

The "Axe Cop" web comic was created by then five-year-old Malachai Nicolle and his 29-year-old brother, Ethan, and chronicles the adventures of an axe-wielding police officer and his loyal team of allies as they fight bad guys.

Written by Malachai and drawn by Ethan, the first five installments of "Axe Cop" were put online on January 25, 2010 and went viral in a matter of days. Three days after AxeCop.com went live, it was featured as Entertainment Weekly?s "Site of the Day," and the series quickly became an Internet meme.

Fox created the Animation Domination HD unit to oversee the development and production of alternative animated series, shorts and user-adapted material for its brand-new late-prime animated programming block and new digital multi-platform network. The unit develops and produces original animated shorts and series to run both on air and online, extending across platforms such as Web, mobile apps, game consoles and Video on Demand.