Top Stories

LOS ANGELES, June 16: Ahead of Licensing Show, Cookie Jar Entertainment has announced the appointment of Mattel as master toy licensee for the new series Spider Riders, while home video rights have gone to FUNimation Entertainment. The series, which falls …

CHATSWORTH, June 16: Image Entertainment has taken on the exclusive North American home video and digital distribution rights to three films by Hong Kong-based filmmakers Danny and Oxide Pang. The deal was concluded by the company’s European subsidiary, Image Entertainment …

TORONTO, June 16: DECODE Entertainment has notched up several new deals on the first and second seasons of its hit live-action tween series Naturally Sadie. Nickelodeon International has taken the second season for its channels in Spain, Italy, Scandinavia and …

SANTA MONICA, June 16: Mobile content provider Viva! Vision has launched five new mobile channels targeted to the Hispanic market, including one exclusively devoted to the World Cup. In addition to the World Cup Soccer channel, featuring some content from …

PORTLAND, June 16: Ex-Paramount International Television chief Gary Marenzi has taken on the position of president at Ensequence, a provider of interactive television software and services that is headquartered in Oregon. The move is part of the company’s attempt to …

NEW YORK, June 16: Venevision Investments, a division of the Cisneros Group of Companies, is joining a consortium of investors seeking to acquire U.S. Hispanic broadcaster Univision, teaming with Grupo Televisa and five investment firms. Venevision and Televisa are already …

LONDON, June 16: Taffy Entertainment has named Louise O’Toole as the managing director of its new office in the U.K. O’Toole will report to Taffy Entertainment’s joint CEOs Mike Young and Bill Schultz, as well as president Liz Young. She …

ROME/HILVERSUM, June 16: John de Mol’s investment vehicle Talpa Management is said to be working with Mediaset on a bid to acquire a majority stake in Endemol from Spain’s Telefónica, wire reports indicate. Endemol shares were up some 9 percent …

OLD LYME/LOS ANGELES, June 16: The Connecticut-based USA Video Technology Corp. (USVO) has filed a patent infringement suit against Time Warner Cable and Comcast Cable, among other platforms, over their VOD services. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court has upheld a …

WASHINGTON, June 16: Verizon has reached a deal to offer subscribers of its FiOS pay-TV package access to up to three public TV stations within a given service area, through an agreement with the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) …