10 Stories You Should Know: 01/30/2024

Here are the stories that should be on your radar

Here are the global TV and streaming video stories that should be on your radar for Tuesday, January 30th, 2024:

Protesting French Farmers Heap Praise On ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ As They Lay Siege To Paris (Deadline)
French farmers, who are currently blockading Paris with their tractors to protest the economic crisis facing the country's agricultural sector, have found an unlikely hero in Jeremy Clarkson. The controversial TV presenter has won praise from the protestors for his Amazon Prime Video Series Clarkson’s Farm, following his attempts to run his Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds, and public backing of British farming.

TRT To Provide FTA Coverage Of UEFA Club Competitions In Turkey (Sportcal)
European soccer’s UEFA club competitions will be broadcast free-to-air in Turkey in the next three-year cycle after public-service broadcaster TRT snapped up the rights. TRT has secured an exclusive deal covering the top-tier UEFA Champions League (UCL), second-tier Europa League, and third-tier Europa Conference League (to be renamed the Conference League from 2024-25) for the 2024-27 cycle.

Netflix Picks Up Swiss Comedy Adaptation ‘The Neighbours From Upstairs’ For German-Speaking Europe (Deadline)
Netflix has picked up rights in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Swiss comedy The Neighbours From Upstairs (Die Nachbarn Von Oben) following the film’s theatrical run. Ascot Elite Entertainment’s charge drew 72,000 admissions in German-speaking Switzerland and was one of the top-performing Swiss comedies in 2023.

Tele2 Sees TV Revenue And Subs Dip As Sweden And Baltics Boost Overall Numbers (Digital TV Europe)
Nordic telco Tele2’s revenue from digital TV declined by a further 3% in the final quarter of the year to SEK659 million (US$63 million), with revenue down both from its legacy digital-terrestrial business and from cable and fibre. DTT revenues declined by 5% to SEK234 million, while cable and fibre TV revenues were down 2% to SEK425 million.

i24News To Launch New Hebrew Language Channel (Broadband TV News)
Altice is to launch a new edition of its i24News channel in the Hebrew language. The new service will join the three existing i24News international news channels broadcast in English, French and Arabic.

Zee Considering Criminal Case Against Sony (Advanced-Television)
The fallout from the collapsed $10 billion merger between Zee Entertainment and Sony’s India broadcasting interests (Bangla Entertainment) continues to have serious ramifications. Both sides have said that litigation will commence, and Sony already has an arbitration claim filed in Singapore claiming $90 million of what it alleges are contractual obligations from Zee.

Narrative-Owned UK Kids Channel Tiny Pop To Go Fully Digital (TBIVision)
UK kids’ broadcast group Narrative Entertainment has announced plans to take pre-school channel Tiny Pop fully digital from 20 March 2024. The move follows the launch of the channel on FAST platforms in September, with sister channel POP currently the number one ranking kids’ FAST channel on Samsung TV Plus.

Nearly Half Of UK Film & TV’s Freelance Workforce Struggling Financially, Research Finds (Deadline)
Nearly half of UK film and TV’s ailing freelance community are struggling financially, according to alarming research from the Film & TV Charity (FTVC). The charity surveyed more than 2,000 freelancers for its Money Matters report and found that 40% feel they wouldn't be able to make ends meet for any more than a month if they lost their income.

BBC: iPlayer To Be Recognised As Streaming Destination Rather Than Catch-Up Service, Says Exec (Digital TV Europe)
UK public service broadcaster (PSB), BBC, is actively making moves to reposition its free SVOD service, BBC iPlayer, as a streaming destination rather than a catch-up platform, said a senior exec at the company. Speaking at the OTT Question Time event in London, Kerensa Samanidis, general manager of BBC iPlayer, said the pubcaster’s 2020 deal with UK producer Pact which introduced a 12-month window exclusivity on programming across the streamer played a significant move in repositioning the streaming service in the market.

ITV Orders More Deal Or No Deal (Advanced-Television)
ITV has recommissioned the iconic TV show Deal Or No Deal with host Stephen Mulhern back at the helm, as a new batch of contestants prepare to go head to head with the Banker. The commission sees the game show return with four celebrity specials.