10 Global TV Stories You Should Know: 02/07/2025

Here are the stories that should be on your radar

Here are the global TV and streaming television stories that should be on your radar for Friday, February 7th, 2025:

Paramount Pauses Some Major Events, Including CMT Music Awards, MTV EMAs, Ahead of Skydance Deal Close (The Hollywood Reporter)
"We look to reimagine and optimize our events slate going forward," reads a staff memo obtained by THR. "Our world-class events remain a key component of Paramount’s music offering."

Prime Video Added To Allente In Norway (Broadband TV News)
Nordic TV platform Allente is adding Prime Video to its steaming offer in Norway, following its earlier addition in Sweden. In addition to international content including The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Reacher, Prime Video has also been producing local content in the region. This includes Girls of Oslo and the new suspense thriller Blindspot (Blindspor) starring Pål Sverre Hagen, among others.

Panels Remain Crucial To Measurement Debate, Viaplay Executive Stresses (The Media Leader UK)
As different markets grapple with the challenge of cross-media measurement, much of the focus needs to be on “the value of a good panel”, according to Viaplay product manager David Rasmusson. Rasmusson, who sits on the board of MMS, the Swedish TV joint industry currency, told The Media Leader: “For any cross-media measurement, you’re going to run into challenges if you don’t have the panel beneath it.”

Series Mania Unveils Keynotes Including WBD International Boss Gerhard Zeiler (Deadline)
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) international boss Gerhard Zeiler will keynote this year’s Series Mania alongside bosses at the French broadcasters. The annual France confab has unveiled its first set of speakers set for the Lille Dialogues event, which runs March 24th to 27th.

LIV Golf Signs ITV Deal (Advanced-Television)
LIV Golf is coming back to free-to-air television in the UK after agreeing a broadcast partnership with ITV for the 2025 season. Starting with round two of the season-opening LIV Golf Riyadh presented by Ma’aden, golf fans in the UK will have access to 41 rounds of live golf coverage across 14 tournaments throughout the season.

Canada’s Dry Spell Is Over as Location Shoots Head North (The Hollywood Reporter)
After the 2023 Hollywood writers and actors strikes and the budget crunch that followed, the industry shock that was felt throughout Los Angeles extended all the way to Canada — specifically Ontario and British Columbia — where the usual deluge of location shoots slowed to a trickle. The strikes triggered a 26 percent downturn in production spending in 2024 compared with 2023, leaving local soundstages dark and production crews idle.

Kayo Sports, Binge Streaming Services Withdraw From Parts Of Australia (ABC News Australia)
Kayo Sports and Binge subscribers in areas described as "very remote" will have their streaming services cancelled on March 3. Foxtel has apologised to subscribers in large regional centres who were incorrectly advised they would lose their service.

The Chaotic World Of AfrikaansTok Gets A Showmax Documentary (Hypertext)
We love wiling the hours away scrolling through TikTok. If you are a South African who does the same you may recognise names like Amelda Claasen (Queen Amelda) and Christiaan Otto (Christiaan met 2 A’s). These are just two names in a side of TikTok that is fuelled by drama, screaming matches and cyberbullying. At times the happenings in this community are so jarring it’s impossible to look away and so, Showmax is making a documentary about the community.

Tastemade, Ole Interactive Announce Tastemade Latin America (Advanced-Television)
Independent media company, Tastemade, and Ole Interactive, a digital business unit founded by Latin American pay-TV industry specialist, Ole Communications, have announced the formation of a new joint venture: Tastemade Latin America. The new venture aims to accelerate growth in the region’s streaming television market.

Hotstar Trouble: OTT Show Hurts Hindu Sentiments (M9 News)
Rajeev Khandelwal's latest OTT venture The Secret Of The Shiledars takes viewers on an adventure quest led by a secret society who try to find hidden treasure belonging to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. While the seriws has been receiving decent reviews from viewers and critics,some parts of the audience have pointed out some failures in the show.