Top Stories

MAINZ: A second season of the hit live-action series Dance Academy is in production, following a commission for a further 26 episodes from Germany’s ZDF and Australia’s ABC.  Funding for the series is again coming from ZDF Enterprises, ZDF, ABC, Screen …

NEW YORK/LONDON: Elisabeth Murdoch has reached an agreement in principle to sell the Shine Group to News Corporation for £415 million ($673.1 million). The companies have signed a non-binding letter of intent and will now proceed with the regulatory filings required …

NEW YORK: FOX Soccer has extended its national broadcast rights agreement with Major League Soccer (MLS) for one year. FOX Soccer, which has been a national broadcast partner of MLS since 2003, will air up to 31 regular-season games, as …

SÃO PAULO: Globo TV Sports has scored a deal with Premier Sports TV to bring the 2011 São Paulo and Brazilian football championships to U.K. viewers. According to the terms of the deal, Premier Sports TV will broadcast two games …

BURBANK: Production is under way on a sophomore season of Pair of Kings, which Disney XD will roll out later this year.  The live-action comedy-adventure series was Disney XD’s number one show of 2010 with kids 6 to 14, 6 …

TORONTO: BuzzTaxi Communications has scored a number of broadcast deals across Europe from its factual-entertainment catalogue. BuzzTaxi has sold the one-off documentary Science of the Soul, from Associated Producers, to Canal+ in Poland, the Axess Channel in Sweden, Nat Geo …

LOS ANGELES: Athletes Bruce Luizzi and Denise Sanchez have been named the first VPs of MUSL TV (Muscle, Ultra-Sports and Lifestyle), which formed earlier this year. Luizzi, a former University of Southern California football star, will serve as VP of …

LONDON: A new representative office has been set up in Kyiv, Ukraine, by Discovery Networks Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEEMEA). This post will be responsible for financial, commercial and technical services in key territories in Discovery …

LONDON: ITV1 has commissioned September Films and 1/17 Productions to produce a 6×1-hour TV magic show, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, to be presented by Jonathan Ross. The show invites aspiring magicians to perform tricks and try to fool the …

SINGAPORE: Singaporean residents will no longer have to shell out a radio and television license fee, with the Media Development Authority (MDA) now due to receive government funding to finance public-service broadcast content. The fee, payable annually by homes, hotels, …