Top Stories

SYDNEY: Former Disney and Nickelodeon producer Jim Ballantine has been named managing director of Flying Bark Studio, the Australian animation studio of Studio 100. He succeeds Eric Claeys, who left to carry out a one-year reorganization assignment. Ballantine previously held …

LAUSANNE: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has granted the broadcast rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games to Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) and Corporación de Televisión de la Pontificia Universidad Católica (Canal 13) in Chile. TVN and Canal …

ATLANTA: TNT has given the go-ahead to three new original shows, one of which is an alien-invasion series from DreamWorks Television and Steven Spielberg. The as-yet-untitled series stars Noah Wyle (ER) as the leader of a rag-tag group of soldiers …

NEEDHAM/LOS ANGELES: The teen drama series Instant Star is to launch throughout Latin America on Boomerang through a deal signed between Echo Bridge Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting System Latin America. The series is being dubbed in Spanish for its March …

LONDON: National Geographic Channel is presenting a new four-part documentary, to be produced by Darlow Smithson Productions over a two-year period, which follows entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and aeronautical engineer Burt Rutan as they launch the first commercial spaceline. Virgin …

LONDON: The Court of Appeal has ruled that BSkyB must sell its 17.9-percent interest in British broadcasting group ITV, backing an earlier decision by the Competition Commission. In late 2006, Sky shelled out £940 million for a 17.9-percent interest in …

PALISADES PARK: Alfred Haber Distribution will be offering four Nash Entertainment reality series to buyers at NATPE: Most Shocking, Top 20 Countdown, Most Daring and Moments of Impact. Most Shocking, one of the highest rated series ever on truTV, takes …

LOS ANGELES: Metan Development Group will launch its content on ten different online portals in China beginning this month.  Each week, Metan will debut a short-form segments from the series Hello! Hollywood on online portals MSN, Sina and Sohu; video-sharing portals …

MEXICO CITY: TV Azteca is showcasing a lineup of telenovelas for NATPE that includes, among others, La Loba.  The novela La Loba, which stars, Mauricio Islas and Ivonne Montero, follows a woman whose instinctive love finds refuge in a man’s heart. Also …

SÃO PAULO: Ahead of its official launch at NATPE, India: A Love Story has been sold by Globo TV International into Russia, where it will air on Domashny, which reaches more than 60 million viewers.  India: A Love Story, the winner …