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LONDON: BBC Worldwide has taken on the global distribution rights for ZingZillas, a new commission for CBeebies. The musical show for preschoolers heads to CBeebies in the U.K. in spring 2010. The 52×22-minute series goes into production this month, shooting …

WASHINGTON, D.C.: National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) has signed on to co-produce the new eight-part series Bite Me with Dr. Mike Leahy with NHNZ. The series follows the Dr. as he scours the globe for some of the most bizarre, …

LAS VEGAS: The MoonScoop Group has named Bandai America as the global toy licensee for the new animated preschool series Chloe’s Closet, schedule to premiere in early 2010. The deal provides Bandai America with the rights to create certain toys, …

BOSTON: APT Worldwide has secure the international representation rights for the child slavery documentary Sold: Fighting the New Global Slave Trade. The film, produced and directed by Jody Hassett Sanchez of Pointy Shoe Productions, exposes the ways in which today’s …

MELBOURNE/LOS ANGELES: Ovation TV has signed a deal with Australian production outfit World Wide Entertainment for the U.S. premiere rights to its one-hour documentary special on the life of the late actor Heath Ledger. Heath Ledger: A Tribute is slated …

NEW YORK: Chase Carey, the CEO of the DIRECTV Group, has been named deputy chairman, president and COO of News Corporation, reporting directly to Rupert Murdoch.  Carey is to join the board of directors of News Corp. on July 1, when …

MEXICO CITY: Mexican media conglomerate Grupo Televisa has teamed up with the social-networking site hi5 to provide free online programming in Latin America. Televisa will be the exclusive representative of hi5’s online advertising inventory in Hispanic Latin America and jointly …

NEW YORK: Disney-ABC Television, NBC Universal and Hearst Corporation are in discussions about the creation of a joint venture that would put Lifetime Network under the A&E Television Networks (AETN) umbrella, according to reports. The restructuring would give NBC Universal …

LONDON: The BBC Trust has delayed its final decision on whether to approve Project Canvas, the joint-venture catch-up TV service from BBC, ITV and BT, citing a "significant gap" in information provided. It had originally intended to make its final …

MENLO PARK: New research from Knowledge Networks finds that the transition to digital television in the U.S. has directly impacted media technology in one out of every four TV households (26 percent) during the past year. Knowledge Networks has been …