MUMBAI: ?Really Cool Stuff? (working title) is the eighth original production to be announced by BBC Worldwide as part of the new commissioning strategy for its global branded channels, unveiled last September.

Blending science and factual entertainment, the fully funded format will premiere on BBC Knowledge (Asia, Africa, CEE, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Poland and the Nordics) and BBC HD (Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America) next year. Dissecting the coolest things in the universe, the general knowledge show will be led by three British presenters alongside studio experiments and CGI and animations.
 
The 10 episode factual entertainment series from 360Production will tackle some of the world?s greatest mysteries from why cats have nine lives, to why we experience D?j? Vu and whether anyone could move fast enough to dodge a speeding bullet.

BBC Worldwide?s aim is to deliver 100 hours of original programming to its BBC branded channels by next year.

The company adds that this latest original production which blends science with factual entertainment, demonstrates VP of commissioning Tracy Forsyth?s commitment to work with independent producers and the BBC?s in-house production teams to create original and high quality television formats for the BBC?s international channel portfolio. Lucy Pilkington will act as BBC Knowledge executive producer, while BBC Worldwide will hold all commercial rights to the new series of ?Really Cool Stuff?, including global broadcast and distribution.

Created with an international BBC audience in mind, ?Really Cool Stuff? will take a magnifying glass to the world?s greatest and most intriguing natural wonders and examine quirky topics in bite size chunks. There will be a mix of presenter interaction, CGI, studio-based scientific experiments, demonstrations and expert input. Hosts Greg Foot (Physicist and adrenalin junkie), Fran Scott (biologist and practical experimenter) and Dominic Byrne (radio and TV broadcaster) will together debate, investigate and dissect a wide spectrum of topics including: "What is more deadly, a tornado or a hurricane?", "where do accents come from?" and "what is the loudest living thing in the ocean?"
 
Forsyth commented, "This high-energy, visually stimulating and incredibly informative series by 360Production, truly delivers a great mix of science and factual entertainment content in a fresh, digestible and returnable format. ?Really Cool Stuff? will answer some of those bizarre common-place questions you have always wondered about, no matter where you live in the world ? and this is one of the many reasons I believe the show will have wide-appeal with our international BBC audiences".

360Production creative director John Farren said, "Everyone at 360Production loves perplexing questions, funny answers, brilliant design and making things go bang. In this show, we get to do them all and can?t wait to share the results with audiences around the world."

MUMBAI: ESPN has acquired the US media rights for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the premier championship for national soccer teams in the continent of Africa.

ESPN3, the company?s live multi-screen sports network available in 83 million homes, will be the primary home for live presentation of the three-week tournament in South Africa that began 19 January through 10 February.

ESPN Deportes, the 24-hour Spanish-language sports network, will televise the semifinals and final matches on delay. This is the first time Africa?s most prominent soccer championship will be available in the United States via a media platform reaching a mass audience.

The agreement includes access to match highlights across ESPN media platforms such as ESPN FC, the company?s sole destination for soccer content; studio news, highlights and analysis programs such as SportsCenter, ESPN FC Press Pass on ESPNEWS, as well as SportsCenter and Los Capitanes on ESPN Deportes.

This year?s Africa Cup of Nations is the 29th edition of the tournament. Teams representing 16 nations compete in the tournament, following a qualification process among the 54 member nations of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the governing body for the sport of soccer in Africa.

The winner of the tournament will represent Africa in the 2013 Fifa Confederations Cup in Brazil, 15-30 June, competing in Group B along with Spain (Europe), Uruguay (South America) and Tahiti (Oceana).

Regarded as one of the most festive and colorful soccer tournaments among Fifa?s six football confederations, the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) features some of the best soccer professionals in the top European leagues. The competition is held every two years.

MUMBAI: Infotainment broadcaster Discovery Networks International (DNI) has announced a new series that invites viewers into the inner workings of some of the world?s most notorious gangs.

?Inside The Gangsters? Code? is a five episode one hour series from production company Nerd TV. It follows ex-mafia street boss Lou Ferrante as he delves into previously impenetrable communities of gangsters and seeks out their hidden leaders.

The show will air on Discovery Channel in 217 countries across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle-East, Africa and Latin America from end of February 2013.

Through the show Ferrante, once a street boss for the New York mob, uses his insider smarts to shed new light on very different gang cultures, characters and modes of operation in El Salvador, the Philippines, New Mexico, Italy, and Poland. Incredibly, these gangs frequently have codes of practice that dictate life both inside and outside the prison walls; they run their activities, grow and prosper behind bars, yet continue to terrorise and control communities living outside.

Ferrante will set out to explain gang origins, history, developing networks of power, motivations and political sway in graphic detail, and with an insider?s insight and passion never before applied to the subject. In order to explore each gang, Ferrante will immerse himself in their respective cultures, both inside and outside of prisons. He will live alongside prisoners, talk to guards, get under the skin of gang members, and meet top tier ?soldiers,? following the trail of gang power from prison to the outside world, meeting key figures and family to provide an insider?s perspective on a notoriously clandestine world.

DNI VP production, development, factual programming Elizabeth McIntyre said, ? ?Inside The Gangsters? Code? offers exclusive insight into empires that operate both within and beneath the apparent culture. The knowledge and passion, risks and challenges undertaken by Lou give a completely new perception to organized crime. We have seen in the past scripted dramas about mob life, but by exploring the operation beyond mere stereotypes, the audience gains a real and vivid understanding that spans globally.?

Nerd TV executive producer Jago Lee said, ?In this series, Lou is able to combine his long experience as a New York mobster with a wit, intelligence, and appetite for truth-seeking that is all his own. Lou is a remarkable new talent, and his unique approach compellingly reinvents the story of gangs and gangster life on television.?