Top Stories

NEW YORK/REDMOND, December 19: Viacom and Microsoft Corporation have entered into a strategic alliance, estimated to have a base value of about $500 million, to collaborate on advertising, content distribution, event promotions and games over the next several years. Microsoft …

NEW YORK, December 19: Nick Jr. has ordered a second season of 20 new episodes of its live-action preschool music series Yo Gabba Gabba! from producers The Magic Store and W!ILDBRAIN. Production for the second season will commence in spring …

MOSCOW, December 19: Russian broadcaster CTC Media has acquired the production companies Costafilm and Soho Media for $50 million in cash, payable over the next three years, as part of its efforts to establish an in-house production-and-distribution business. The deals …

Barcelona, December 19: Following the Asia TV Forum, production and distribution company Neptuno Films has finalized sales of its two new series, The Gloops and Zoomix, to C4U in Korea. The Gloops is a 3-D animated preschool series that has …

NEW YORK, December 19: MTV Games, a division of Viacom’s MTV Networks, has reached an exclusive deal with producer Jerry Bruckheimer to launch a game incubation studio that will develop and create new original video games. The agreement marks Bruckheimer’s …

NEW YORK, December 19: Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group has promoted Samantha Greene Woodruff to VP of strategy and business development from her role as senior director. Woodruff will support senior management in the development of long-range strategy plans for …

BURBANK, December 19: As the Hollywood writers’ strike continues, NBC has announced that it will repurpose two USA Network cable series, Monk and Psych, for its Sunday night lineup, beginning March 2008. Upcoming new episodes of Monk and Psych will …

DUNEDIN, December 19: Factual television producer NHNZ has promoted Lauren Wang to director of China operations, replacing Rachel Yu. Based out of the Beijing office, Wang will help oversee efforts to develop and maintain relationships with government agencies and broadcasters. …

LOS ANGELES, December 19: Peter Jackson, along with the chiefs of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios and New Line Cinema, have announced plans to produce two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit. Under the agreement, MGM and New Line will …

TEL AVIV, December 18: Dori Media Group’s Dori Media Central Studios (DMCS), formerly Central Park Productions, has reached a three-year agreement to rent one of its three Buenos Aires-based television studios to Argentinean producer Ideas Del Sur for $3.6 million. …