It's day two here in Cannes and I am sad to report that the weather isn't that great today, which I'm sure will elicit a lot of sympathy back in the UK.
11.30am Cannes time - There also seem to be some quite hungover people wondering around, particularly among the American contingent - something that Lis Murdoch referred to in her keynote speech yesterday when she said that the LA execs had something of a "what happens in Cannes, stays in Cannes" mentality which sees them all suddenly take up binge drinking and smoke too many fags. They just need to do it all the time like us Europeans and they will be fine.
Murdoch was on good form at her speech last night. At one point after she had begun taking questions from the press she started to get distratced by a man speaking very loudly into his mobile phone behind her. She suddenly stopped what she was saying and turned around. "Husband!" she barked. "Shhh!" A sheepish Matthew Freud, her PR guru husband, stopped his conversation and looked suitably berated. "Sorry," he said.
I also had the good fortune to meet Tracey Ullman and her husband Allan McKeown at a drinks reception last night (like i said, it's hard work out here.) Ullman was on a high after receiving positive reviews for her new US series State of the Union, which she is out in Cannes trying to flog. Ullman has just received American citizenship, but she said she still felt an affiliation with England. "I'm still a Brit by the way," she said. "But a hybrid one."
Her husband of 25 years, who is also her producer, made light of their marriage. "Tracey has turned out to be a nice little earner," he said. But Ullman retorted: "Our marriage is on the rocks but we just stay together for the syndication."
Ullman is currently in talks with British broadcasters about her new show. It would be good to see her back on the box in the UK.
2.30pm - The BBC has commissioned a further two series of kids adventure gameshow Escape from Scorpion Island from producer The Foundation, part of the RDF Media Group's family entertainment division headed by former ITV director of television Nigel Pickard. The two 15 episode-long series will each feature 16 children aged between 11 and 14 who are marooned on an exotic island and have to complete challenges to be the first team to escape. Series two will air on BBC1 later this year with series three due to go out in 2009.
3pm - Shine Group chief executive Elisabeth Murdoch has said she doesn't plan to acquire any more production companies after a recent spree saw her snap up four firms in multi-million pound deals.
Spooks producer Kudos, the Friday Night Project's Princess Productions, factual producer Firefly and Ugly Betty's Reveille were all bought up over the past 18-months.
Shine paid £22.89m for Kudos, plus a "further contingent consideration" of £24.86m.
Takeover deals for Firefly and Princess were arranged in a similar way, and could see Shine paying a total of just over £8m and £18.38m respectively for the businesses.
Reveille became part of the group earlier this year for around £100m.
Murdoch said that even though she still had ambitious growth plans for the company, this would not come from further acquisitions but from diversification inside the group, such as drama producer Kudos' recent move into comedy.
Speaking in a question and answer session at MipTV, Murdoch said: "We probably are complete in terms of further acquisitions. We are looking instead at diversifying within our companies.
"That kind of diversification into new genres is the way we will go."
Murdoch also slapped down speculation that she would eventually sell Shine to another bidder such as Sony, which already has a 14.8% stake in the company, or her father Rupert's News Corp and also denied she planned an eventual move back to the family firm.
"I am not for sale," she said. "I could never imagine leaving Shine. I love being the majority owner of my business."
Murdoch also admitted that her family name had also been a help in her career. "Yes, I am sure [it has]," she said.
3.10pm - Wife Swap, one of the great survivors of the reality genre, will remain on screens until at least next year after Channel 4 ordered a further 18 episodes. The RDF-produced show will return this autumn for six episodes - including one celebrity version - and again in 2009 with 12 instalments, including two featuring celebs.
3.30pm - It seems viewers just can't get enough of incest. Following Channel 4's recent documentary Sleeping With My Sister, ITV1 will follow up with Brothers and Sisters in Love, about a young German couple who have 'genetic sexual attraction'. The one-off programme, from Walker George Films, has already racked up a raft of international pre-sales for All3Media International, with at least eight broadcasters, include the Nine Network in Australia and TV3 in Ireland picking it up. No German broadcaster has yet come on board, but since the case of the two siblings has been such a big deal in the media there, a sale is expected soon.
3.40pm - Ray Winstone's new ITV1 drama which is loosely based on the Jacobean tragedy written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley in 1622 has undergone a name change. Formerly called The Changeling, the drama, made by Winstone's Size 9 Productions, will now be known as The Compulsion when it airs next month. ER and Bend It Like Beckham star Parminder Nagra will star alongside Winstone in the dark tale of desire and lust. One of BBC1's forthcoming major new dramas has also had a name change. The six-part comedy crime series Desperados, made by Company Pictures and starring Warren Clarke and Anthony Head, will now air as The Invisibles.
