World Screen

LOS ANGELES: Debt-laden MGM has reportedly set January 15 as the deadline to receive bids from those interested in acquiring the studio. In November, MGM announced it was exploring its options, including a sale or a merger with another media …

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Department of Justice will be the U.S. agency handling the review of Comcast Corporation’s planned venture with GE to assume control of NBC Universal. Announced in December, the agreement will see Comcast owning 51 percent of a …

LONDON: The preschool channel JimJam has secured carriage on Telkomvision’s DTH, cable and upcoming IPTV platform in Indonesia, where the service is already available on AORA. A 24-hour version of the channel in English premieres on Telkomvision this month to …

PALISADES PARK: Alfred Haber Distribution, Inc. (AHDI) has signed up a number of international broadcasters for the 2009 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which aired on CBS in the U.S. on December 1. The 60-minute event, which features models and musical …

ATLANTA: Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have renewed their co-branding partnership for the boys’ action franchise Ben 10: Alien Force and extended the agreement to include a new line from Spalding. The deal extension covers the …

BARCELONA/LONDON: BKN New Media has announced new deals from its U.K. and Spanish operations, including a toy distribution agreement signed for Zorro: Generation Z.  The U.K.-based BKN New Media Ltd has signed new partnerships with Czech and Slovak distributor Vapet Production and …

EL SEGUNDO: Mattel has signed on to manufacture, market and distribute an exclusive line of action figures and accessories for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) brand.  The line includes action figures and toys for both kids and collectors. This includes …

LOS ANGELES: Adness Entertainment has sold the live-action series Kamen Rider Dragon Knight to Cartoon Network in the Asia Pacific, with 40 half-hour episodes to launch this year in territories such as India, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore and New Zealand.  …

NEW YORK: Rainbow Media has secured licensing from the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) to launch Sundance Channel and WE tv in Korea, with Skylife already taking on the two channels. Skylife, the country’s only digital satellite pay-TV operator, launched the …

BEIJING: Baidu, China’s leading search engine, is planning to launch a new independent company that will provide licensed online video to Internet users.  Functioning much like Hulu, the new company will work closely with content providers to bring copyrighted premium video …