Top Stories

HILVERSUM, April 12: Telescreen’s classic property Alfred J. Kwak, licensed into more than 85 territories since its 1989 debut, has generated new interest ahead of MIPTV, with YLE2 in Finland renewing its rights to two seasons of 52 half-hour episodes. …

SANTA MONICA, April 12: Lionsgate is making a determined play for the Christian entertainment market in the U.S., securing a DVD deal with leading Christian publisher Thomas Nelson and acquiring three faith-based documentary titles. Thomas Nelson becomes the exclusive distributor …

CALGARY, April 12: CCI Releasing is making more than 50 hours of kids’, documentary and lifestyle programming available in the U.S. and Canada via the MoboVivo WebStore, which offers up content for mobile and portable devices. The programs include the …

NEW YORK, April 12: Bravo is shifting its focus to the 18-49 demographic from the 25 to 54 set and is bolstering its original programming slate with new shows like Hey Paula, featuring American Idol judge Paula Abdul. Bravo currently …

LONDON, April 12: MTV Networks International (MTVNI) has promoted Bhavneet Singh to senior VP and managing director of its emerging markets group, reporting directly to COO Alex Ferrari. In his new role, based in London, Singh will be responsible for …

LOS ANGELES, April 12: Kimora Lee Simmons, fashion designer, former model and the ex-wife of music industry mogul Russell Simmons, will be featured in a new weekly reality series on The Style Network, with the working title Kimora, debuting this …

NEW YORK, April 12: Maria Badillo is joining the Hispanic kids’ channel ¡Sorpresa! Network as VP of programming from Discovery Kids Latin America. Badillo will be responsible for co-production and acquisitions for the ¡Sorpresa! Network. She will report to Leonard …

TOKYO, April 12: BabyTV, a channel for infants and toddlers under the age of 3, is expanding to Japan as a morning and afternoon block on News Broadcasting Japan’s FOXlife HD channel. BabyTV was first launched in Israel in 2003, …

LONDON, April 12: The BBC has picked up Distraction’s Dirty Rotten Cheater, an interactive game show format centered on cheating, for launch this summer. The BBC’s version of the game show will be hosted by Brian Conley. Nominated last year …

MUNICH, April 12: SevenOne International has licensed all 123 episodes of Sat.1’s telenovela Love is in the Air to Mediaset’s Canale 5 in Italy, for broadcast starting from April 16. Launching under the Italian title Cuori tra le nuvole, or …