Top Stories

NEW YORK, March 8: Nickelodeon will add three new animated series to its 2008 schedule—The Umizumiz, Bubble Guppies and Making Fiends—and has unveiled iCarly, a new live-action comedy series that will incorporate user-generated content. Nickelodeon has green-lit 13 episodes of …

LONDON, March 8: Five has suspended all of its programming involving premium-rate telephone services after it learned from Endemol U.K. of problems involving the daily quiz show Brainteaser. The move comes a week after ITV pulled the plug on its …

LONDON, March 7: FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has announced two U.S. deals on its controversial 90-minute documentary 638 Ways to Kill Castro: a broadcast slot with Sundance Channel and a DVD rollout via BCI. BCI has secured the exclusive DVD distribution …

HONG KONG, March 7: BabyTV has launched its 24-hour channel in Hong Kong on PCCW’s now Broadband TV platform. BabyTV will be available exclusively as a subscription channel on now, offering parents in Hong Kong a service to enjoy with …

BUENOS AIRES, March 7: Dori Media Group has licensed the format rights to its novelas The Shelter (El Refugio) and You are the One (Sos Mi Vida) to Portugal’s TVI. The deal builds on Dori’s successes in the last six …

LOS ANGELES, March 7: Program Partners has cleared the award-winning teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation in over 70 percent of the U.S. for a fall syndication launch. The drama has recently been added to affiliates in Tampa, Minneapolis, Cleveland, …

LONDON, March 7: Outright Distribution, formerly Screentime Partners, has clinched new deals on four titles from fellow Shed Group-owned Ricochet. Outright has licensed the 4×1-hour series 20 Ways to XYZ in Australia; Alliance Atlantis for BBC Canada and HGTV in …

ROME, March 7: FBC has taken on the exclusive international distribution rights to the award-winning documentary Nobelity, which looks at the future of the planet through the eyes of nine Nobel Prize winners, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and noted economist …

STUDIO CITY, March 7: Carsey-Werner Television Distribution has tapped Rolando Figueroa as its new VP of international sales for the Latin American and Caribbean region. In his new role, Figueroa will be responsible for sales in the region of Carsey-Werner …

NEW YORK, March 7: Private equity firms are expected to continue investing in the entertainment and media sectors this year, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report, after a strong 2006, which saw 282 deals announced, worth investments of $114.6 billion. Its …