Top Stories

LOS ANGELES, June 5: Fox Soccer Channel will launch its first-ever reality show, Soccer Dreams, on June 7 at 12 p.m., offering up a contract with a leading English club. The series follows the story of thousands of young players …

MUNICH, June 5: NBC Universal Global Networks has reached an agreement to sell its German free-to-air channel Das Vierte to Mini Movie International Channel. Mini Movie International Channel, headquartered in Luxembourg, is owned by Dmitri Lesnevski, the TV and film …

MONTREAL, June 5: Distraction has secured a partnership with boutique distributor Bomanbridge Media Limited, which will represent the Canadian-based company in Japan, Korea and China. Distraction will extend its format library to Bomanbridge, which is set to open an office …

ENGLEWOOD/NEW YORK, June 5: Discovery Holding Company (DHC) and Advance/Newhouse Programming Partnership have reached a deal to combine their stakes in Discovery Communications, creating a new publicly traded company that will own 100 percent of Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, …

TORONTO, June 5: Peace Arch Entertainment Group has received new orders for seven non-fiction programs, totaling 58 episodes, from various cable channels, including several for Discovery networks in Canada. Peace Arch Entertainment’s Vancouver-based production and post-production company, The Eyes, has …

CULVER CITY/HILVERSUM, June 5: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has completed its acquisition of the Dutch formats and interactive entertainment outfit 2waytraffic. SPE first made its offer to acquire 2waytraffic for £114.3 million in March. The deal is part of SPE’s …

MADRID, June 5: Imagina International Sales (ISS) will head to DISCOP with a catalogue of documentaries, feature films and series, including Los hombres de paco (Paco’s Men), which Endemol Italy has just picked up the format rights for. Endemol Italy …

BRUSSELS, June 5: The European Commission has withdrawn its case against Sweden at the European Court of Justice after the country’s government abolished Boxer’s exclusivity on digital terrestrial broadcasting services. The Commission referred Sweden to the Court of Justice in …

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 5: In 2009, PBS will premiere “The State of the Planet’s Oceans,” the next episode in Screenscope’s environmental series Journey to Planet Earth, with Matt Damon returning as the on-camera host/narrator. Produced by Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Hal …

MUNICH, June 5: The ProSiebenSat.1 Group has expanded its online portfolio with the acquisition of 100 percent of Feeem Media, which operates the female-targeted content portal Fem.com. Dr. Marcus Englert, a member of the executive board of ProSiebenSat.1 for new …