NEW YORK, May 18: According to new research from Viacom, watching live TV unlocks the greatest benefits of social activities, including co-viewing.

LOS ANGELES, May 18: Brendan Fitzgerald, a former Sony Pictures Television executive who specialized in localized iterations of that studio’s series abroad, tells World Screen Newsflash that he is setting up a distribution company called Pomodoro Stories, focusing on formats of scripted shows.

NEW YORK, May 18: In bulking up its original programming, USA Network has unveiled a development slate that features a number of comedies, including projects from Kelsey Grammer, Mark Gordon, Denis Leary and Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun.

NEW YORK, May 18: CWD is a newly formed digital studio from The CW that will serve as a destination for original content created exclusively for the digital platform.

LONDON, May 18: Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe are on board for a new four-part comedy/drama, A Young Doctor's Notebook, based on the memoirs of a Russian doctor working during the Russian Revolution, as part of Sky Arts' Playhouse Presents... programming.

LONDON, May 18: CBS Studios International has licensed a trio of critically acclaimed series, including Twin Peaks, to the Horror Channel in Italy.

NEW YORK, May 18: Oxygen Media has ordered a second season of the competition series Best Ink, featuring the artistry of tattooing.

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/TORONTO, May 18: Dorian Missick (Southland, The Cape) and Kate Kelton (Harold and Kumar, American Psycho 2) have been cast in recurring roles for the third season of Haven, a series from Entertainment One (eOne).

NEW YORK, May 18: A&E Network is the broadcast home for the world premiere of Joe Berlinger's new documentary Paul Simon's Graceland Journey: Under African Skies, which debuts on May 25.

MIAMI, May 18: NPN Media has formed a dedicated advertising sales division that will operate out of its new corporate office in New York City, with Kate Rolston to serve as general manager of the ad solutions group.

NEW YORK, May 17: World Screen's guide to the 2012-13 season is now available, featuring the prime-time grids for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and The CW; pop-up trailers; descriptions and credits for each new and returning show; and a listing of series by studio.

NEW YORK, May 17: Sean Reckwerdt, lead television analyst at Networked Insights, today offers World Screen Newsflash his views on CBS's new series, picking Vegas and Partners as two of the shows that are likely to do well with audiences this fall.

NEW YORK, May 17: The CW has picked up five new dramas for the 2012-13 season, along with shuffling its returning series to new slots.

NEW YORK, May 17: The CW's two midseason replacements, Cult and The Carrie Diaries, score high on Networked Insights' ranking of shows generating a buzz in social media, according to the company's lead television analyst, Sean Reckwerdt.

NEW YORK, May 17: Turner Broadcasting System has taken a minority stake in the digital comedy outfit Funny or Die, which was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy.

LONDON, May 17: UKTV has signed a deal with Channel 4 for more than 350 hours of factual and lifestyle programming, including shows such as Embarrassing Bodies and 4 in a Bed.

NEW YORK, May 17: New seasons of Adult Swim hits such as Childrens Hospital sit in the 2012-13 schedule alongside new shows, including Black Dynamite and Hot Package.

NEW YORK, May 17: Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más has eight new original series to offer viewers, featuring the talents of, among others, Mario Lopez, Oscar De La Hoya, Wilmer Valderrama, Ricardo Laguna and Dulce Maria.

LONDON, May 17: Sky 1 HD has a new original series for its lineup, a three-part factual show featuring actor and comedian Eddie Izzard as he takes on the challenge of running 27 marathons across South Africa in 27 days.

LONDON, May 17: Zodiak Rights has added to its documentary catalogue Norway Massacre: The Survivors, which Channel 5 will debut in the U.K. ahead of the first anniversary of the tragic events.

ISTANBUL, May 17: D-Smart has sealed a two-year TV distribution deal that brings WWE's weekly flagship programs WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown to the digital broadcasting platform in Turkey.

LOS ANGELES, May 17: Nickelodeon Latin America is developing its fourth original novela, 11 11, En Mi Cuadra Nada Cuadra, which will be produced by Somos Productions.

NORWALK, May 17: CABLEready has acquired the exclusive global TV distribution rights, outside of the U.S., for the series Burnout: The Ultimate Drag Race Challenge, a show from High Five Entertainment for MTV2.

NEW YORK, May 17: Gustavo Cisneros, the chairman of the Cisneros Group of Companies, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF) for his contributions to the improvement of education in Latin America.

BEVERLY HILLS, May 17: Televix Entertainment and Aronnax Animation Studios have commenced pre-production on the Yeadim Animation & Games theatrical feature film Sparkeez.

NEW YORK, May 17: CBS Studios International will be presenting international buyers with the CBS series Elementary, Vegas and the midseason replacement Friend Me alongside a pair of shows that made it to The CW's schedule.

NEW YORK, May 17: The ABC midseason shows The Family Tools, Malibu Country and Mistresses are among the new series Disney Media Distribution (DMD) will be screening in Los Angeles.

NEW YORK, May 17: Eight of the new series featured on the U.S. networks' upcoming schedules hail from the NBCUniversal Television Distribution catalogue, among them the FOX comedy The Mindy Project.

NEW YORK, May 17: Sony Pictures Television will be screening a number of new U.S. network shows for buyers, including the NBC series Save Me, starring Anne Heche.

NEW YORK, May 17: Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution's L.A. Screenings lineup includes Ryan Murphy's new show The New Normal.