Top Stories

LOS ANGELES: The New York Times reported today that AT&T may have influenced the outcome of this year’s American Idol vote by providing phones for free text messaging and tutorials on "power texts" at parties held by fans of Kris Allen. …

NEW YORK: The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced the addition of Brian Seth Hurst and Tarif Sayed to its Ambassador program, which now includes a total of 15 executives. Hurst is the CEO of The Opportunity Management Company, a strategic consultancy …

BARCELONA: A raft of new broadcast, home-entertainment and merchandising deals have been closed by Imira Entertainment for ZDF Entertainment’s H2O: Just Add Water and The Elephant Princess, alongside further agreements from its animation library. In Portugal, SIC picked up both The …

NEW YORK: Bravo has another spin-off in the works for its hit docuseries franchise The Real Housewives, this time set in the metropolitan region of Washington, D.C. Bravo is currently scouting the D.C. area for city residents who have their …

LONDON/NEW YORK: BBC Worldwide has created two senior executive roles in the U.S. in an effort to grow its sales and co-production and children’s activities in the territory. Matt Forde will relocate from London to join BBC Worldwide’s New York-based sales …

LOS ANGELES: AmericanLife TV Network (ALN), a U.S. network targeted to the baby-boomer generation, has been sold to ComStar Media Fund, which invests in outfits that deliver "family values" content and is headed up by Reverend Robert A. Schuller, the former host …

MONTREAL: The Alliance for Children and Television (ACT) is embarking on what it is describing as the largest study to date on Canadian youth programming, to be led by the Centre for Youth and Media Studies at the Université de Montréal. The initiative, which …

NEW YORK: As part of the 25th anniversary celebration for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 4Kids Entertainment and Mirage Studios have given the go-ahead for the development and construction of the first-ever theme-park ride for the classic property, in South …

HILVERSUM/LONDON: Endemol is joining forces with Samsung Mobile U.K. and AOL-owned social networking site Bebo for a new online music series called Beat. Created and produced by Endemol, the magazine-style daily series is set for a June 19 rollout on …

TORONTO: The Government of Ontario’s Next Generation of Jobs Fund has granted $23 million in financing to Starz Animation Toronto, which recently wrapped Universal/Focus Features’ 9 and is working on Miramax Films’ Gnomeo & Juliet. The studio, established in 2007, was granted the …