MUMBAI: It was shortly after midnight on 2 May 2011 when the search for the world?s most hunted felon finally came to an end.

Now on 28 April at 8 pm infotainment broadcaster Discovery Channel will air the special ?Osama Bin Laden: The Finish?. This is the inside story of one of the biggest and most arduous manhunts in history.

It is based on author Mark Bowden?s research book ?The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden?- that features an exclusive interview with US President Barack Obama, rare access to the White House and first-hand reporting. The special provides an account of the step-by-step developments that led to finally tracking down the world?s most wanted man.

After masterminding the terrorist attacks against the US on 11 September 2001, Osama bin Laden vanished. Over the course of the next decade, America discovered that its war with al-Qaeda - a scattered group of individuals who were almost impossible to track - required a more innovative approach. The special begins by looking at the tragic 2009 suicide bombing by a Jordanian triple agent which killed 10 people, including Jennifer Matthews, a mother of three and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative leading the hunt for Osama. Through access to military and agency sources, the special takes viewers on the ground where the action unfolded and inside the rooms where high-level decisions were made.

The special has been filmed on location in Jordan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and gives viewers a look at the top-secret strategies employed to complete the mission and President Obama?s campaign promise - to get Osama Bin Laden. The special also sheds light on how intelligence agencies utilise special operations to gather information to find al-Qaeda and Taliban targets.

MUMBAI: US broadcaster Comedy Central and Open Road Films have reached an agreement for a film package that includes the first window broadcast premiere of Marlon Wayans? new comedy ?A Haunted House? and Dax Shepard?s ?Hit and Run?, it was announced by Comedy central executive VP, programme strategy and multiplatform programming David Bernath and Open Road Films head of TV sales Rand Stoll.

Bernath said, "We are excited to have formed what we hope to be a lasting partnership with Open Road Films". Stoll stated, "Comedy Central is the perfect home for ?A Haunted House? and ?Hit & Run? and we are thrilled to be in business with them on these and hopefully future titles."

MUMBAI: Actor Josh Duhamel will host for the first time US kids? broadcaster Nickelodeon?s 26th Annual Kids? Choice Awards on 23 March 2013.

It is a kid experience where Hollywood and slime collide, kids rule and honour their favorites from the worlds of film, music, sports and television. The celebrity-filled show takes place at USC?s Galen Center.

Nickelodeon president, content development Marjorie Cohn, who is also the executive producer of the Kids? Choice Awards, said, "Josh has come out to play before for Kids? Choice and as a previous ?best arm fart? winner we know he?ll do what it takes to be a great host. We promise that this year will deliver the special, one-of-a-kind surprise-filled slimefest for which our annual telecast is famous."

Duhamel said, "Nickelodeon?s Kids? Choice Awards is a great event that celebrates kids by honouring their opinions and taps into the kid in all of us. I have a lot of secret plans for when I host the awards, but I can tell you I?m excited to lead millions of kids into total crazy fun, chaos ...and, of course, endless slime!"

The 2013 Nickelodeon?s Kids? Choice Awards will be seen in more than 350 million households around the world and in more than 25 languages. Within hours of airing live in the US and Canada, the show will roll out internationally, providing kids around the world the opportunity to tune into their local Nickelodeon channel to enjoy the show faster than ever. In many international markets, the show will feature country-specific award categories and nominees, such as Favourite Asian Act and Favourite UK TV Show. Voting for the 2013 KCAs will span over six continents across 16 localised voting sites, giving kids the chance to decide who takes home a blimp.

Presenting sponsors of the show are General Mills, Hasbro Twister Rave Games and Target. Associate sponsors are Bounty, McDonald?s, nabi, Nintendo and Skechers.

MUMBAI: Close on the heels of making two major acquisitions, Discovery Communications has acquired 100 per cent of Switchover Media, an Italian media company that owns and operates four free-to-air television channels and one pay-TV television channel in Italy.

Combined with Discovery?s existing networks in the country, the acquisition of Switchover Media makes Discovery the third largest broadcaster in Italy in terms of collective audience share.

Discovery Communications has been on a shopping spree in Europe. The broadcaster had last year spent a little over $2.1 billion to acquire German media company ProSiebenSat.1 Group?s SBS Nordic operations and a minority stake in French media company TF1/Eurosport.

The acquisition not only made Discovery the biggest pay-TV operator outside US but also marked non-fiction major?s entry into scripted formats and sports.

?Italy is a leading market for Discovery and key to our growth here over the last two years has been the development of a successful free-to-air TV business strategy as this platform has grown," said Discovery Networks Western Europe President and MD Dee Forbes.

"The acquisition of Switchover Media adds further breadth and scale to that free-to-air strategy, as well as diversifying our portfolio to include scripted crime and children?s programming that have proven popular with audiences and advertisers."

Switchover Media Founder and Managing Partner Francesco Nespega said, ?I am confident that an international leader in the media segment, such as Discovery, with its contents and resources, will be able to further expand the potential of the channels we created and implemented.?

With the acquisition of Switchover, Discovery now has six free-to-air brands and six pay-TV brands in Italy. The combined business will beoverseen by Marinella Soldi, Managing Director Discovery Italy and General Manager Southern Europe, who is based in Milan. Francesco Nespega will cooperate with Discovery for the whole transition phase.

?Discovery and Switchover have both had such tremendous success in introducing new free-to-air channel offerings and growing audiences in Italy in a short period of time, that together we will be third in terms of audience share,? said Soldi.

Discovery?s free-to-air channels in Italy include Real Time, a female-targeted entertainment channel launched in 2010, and DMAX, which launched at the end of 2011. Discovery?s pay-TV brands in Italy include the global flagship Discovery Channel, as well as Animal Planet, Discovery Travel & Living, Discovery Science and Discovery World.

Switchover Media, established in 2009 by Nespega, operates two free-to-air channels targeted at adults, including Giallo, a scripted investigation and forensics entertainment channel targeted at women, and, Focus, a male-targeted factual entertainment channel. It also operates two free-to-air children?s channels, K2 and Frisbee, as well as GXT, a male-targeted pay-TV channel.

MUMBAI: UK media watchdog Ofcom has imposed a financial penalty of ?40,000 on E! Entertainment UK.

This penalty follows Ofcom?s finding, published on 23 April 2012 in Broadcast Bulletin 204 relating to the broadcast of consecutive episodes of Girls of the Playboy Mansion at various times during the day on 27 December 2011.

The content of these episodes included material which was unsuitable for pre-watershed broadcast and the episodes were broadcast during the Christmas holiday period, when it was likely that children ? some unaccompanied by an adult - would have been watching. The broadcaster was found in breach of Rule 1.3:

According to Rule 1.3, children must also be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.

Before the broadcast on 27 December 2011 of Girls of the Playboy Mansion, which was subject to this sanction, E! had also previously been found in breach for two programmes, which were also unsuitable for broadcast before the watershed because the nature of the content and because the most offensive language was broadcast (Broadcast Bulletin 195).

Ofcom decided that the Code breach of Rule 1.3 recorded in Broadcast Bulletin 204 was serious and repeated and, therefore, a financial penalty should be imposed.

MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch-owned media conglomerate News Corp has completed the acquisition of ESPN Star Sports, an equal joint venture company that it had formed 16 years back with Walt Disney?s ESPN to rule sports broadcasting in Asia.

The acquisition is made through a wholly owned subsidiary. With this, ESS becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp.

News Corp had in June announced that it will buyout ESPN?s 50 per cent stake in ESS to become the sole owner of the sports network.

"News Corporation and ESPN today announced that News Corporation, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, completed its acquisition of ESPN?s partnership interest in ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) pursuant to their agreement announced on 6 June 2012," the company said.

In India, the deal was earlier cleared by India?s anti-competition watch dog Competition Commission of India.

ESS has footprint across 24 countries in Asia through its 25 television networks and three broadband networks. It has offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore, and employs more than 650 employees across the region.

The buyout marks the exit of ESPN from the Asian market. The global sports broadcaster, however, remains present in Asia through its digital media products which include ESPNcricinfo, ESPNFC, ESPNscrum and mobileESPN.