Top Stories

WASHINGTON, D.C.: John Malone, the chairman of Liberty Media Corporation, must pay a $1.4 million civil penalty, the Department of Justice announced today, settling charges that he violated pre-merger reporting and waiting requirements when he acquired Discovery Holding Co. shares. The …

HONG KONG: HawthoRNe and Drop Dead Diva add to U.S. series such as Top Chef and Cashmere Mafia in the lineup of Sony Entertainment Television (SET) in Asia.  HawthoRNe stars Jada Pinkett Smith, who is also executive producing the series, as a head nurse who goes out of her …

NEW YORK: GolTV and ESPN have firmed up an agreement for Spanish- and English-language multimedia rights for coverage of Spain’s La Liga in the U.S. through 2012.  The two U.S. channels will now share coverage of the Spanish football league. …

BURBANK: A second season of Special Agent Oso has been ordered by Disney Channel for its Playhouse Disney block. The interactive series follows Oso (voiced by Sean Astin), a bumbling stuffed panda bear who works for works for U.N.I.Q.U.E. (United Network for Investigating Quite Usual …

LONDON: ESPN has stepped in to pick up the Premier League rights lost by Setanta Sports—which today went into administration—scoring 46 matches for the upcoming season, as well as a package of 23 games each in the 2010/11 and 2012/13 seasons. …

NEW YORK: The British drama Merlin, distributed by FremantleMedia Enterprises, opened to 5 million viewers in its U.S. premiere on NBC on Sunday. On the low-rated Sunday night, NBC came in second place with its two hours of Merlin and …

PARIS: Of the top 100 most-watched shows for 2008 in France, 57 were U.S. dramas, while only 13 were French, according to a new report from French audiovisual promotion association APA.  The production of French fiction reached an all-time high last …

  LONDON: BSkyB has been told to cover the legal fees incurred by the U.K.’s Competition Commission and the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform during the battle over the British satellite platform’s investment in ITV. In …

SINGAPORE: Hallmark Channel in Asia has greenlit its own version of The Biggest Loser, marking the NBC Universal Global Networks-owned channel’s first local production in the region. The Asian version of the hit NBC unscripted show will be produced by …

LONDON: MTV Networks International (MTVNI) has signed new deals in Denmark and Portugal, alongside a host of new agreements in Latin America for Nickelodeon shows. DR in Denmark picked up The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, along with the show’s …