MIP-TV REVIEW

UNITED KINGDOM Discovery Works With Prince

Prince Edward (who goes by the name Edward Windsor while he is working) made an appearance at MIP-TV to announce that his company Ardent Productions Ltd. was commissioned by Discovery Communications to produce a documentary on the restoration of Windsor Castle. The documentary will be titled "Windsor Restored." (Edward Windsor, Ardent Productions, [phone].)

ITV Goes After Movie Magic

U.S. distribution company GRB Entertainment has licensed "Movie Magic Specials" (4 x 60-min) and "Hollywood's Greatest Stunts" (10 x 60-min) to the ITV terrestrial network in the United Kingdom. GRB also found success in Australia, where it licensed "Anatomy of Disaster" (7 x 60-min), "Kaboom!" (3 x 60-min), "Storm Warning!" (13 x 30-min), "What Went Wrong?" (18 x 30-min) and "Hollywood's Greatest Stunts" (10 x 60-min) to the Nine Network. (Gary Benz, GRB, [phone].) Channel 5 Makes Noise

The sure-fire sign that Channel 5 is causing a stir in the U.K. television market: its competitors increasingly are taking pot-shots at it. The most recent gripes have been about the newest U.K. channels recent output deals. ("How can they afford that? They are creating an artificially high market!") First it cut a two-year output deal with Warner Bros. covering all feature films released in 1997 and 1998, plus 190 films from the Hollywood studio's library. The deal, which includes films such as "Batman" and "Rebel Without a Cause," marks Warner Bros.' largest U.K. terrestrial transaction. The Warner Bros. deal came just after Channel 5 cut a deal with ESPN for up to 300 hours of sports programming including U.S. soccer and programming. (Sally Osman, Channel 5, [phone].) Carlton Sales at MIP-TV

Carlton's distribution arms has announced MIP-TV sales to: French broadcaster France 2 (2 x 120-min "Rebecca"); Slovenian TV ("Emma," "Element of Doubt," "Treasure Seekers" and two "Inspector Morse" movies); U.S. cable/satellite networks A&E ("Inspector Morse") and History Channel ("Sharpe"); and China's CCTV ("Rebecca," "Emma," "Thief of Baghdad," "Anna Karenina" and "The African Queen"). The Rank Film library, which Carlton purchased earlier this month, will be featured at MIPCOM. (Mark Gray, CTE, [phone].) BBC Sales Records

BBC World's international programme sales and distribution agreements increased 20 per cent to...