Top Stories

TORONTO, July 12: Picture Box Distribution’s award-winning preschool series Nanalan has launched on 10 PBS member stations, with further stations set to roll out the show this fall. The seven-year distribution deal with PBS will make the 41 30-minute episodes …

TORONTO, July 12: CTV parent company Bell Globemedia (BGM) has made an offer to acquire CHUM Limited for C$1.7 billion ($1.5 billion) with the full backing of CHUM’s controlling shareholders and board of directors. While the estate of Allan Walters …

AMSTERDAM, July 12: Filming has begun on The Lost Kingdom of Guge, a one-hour investigative documentary that is being co-produced by Off the Fence, France 5, Bang Singapore and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA). The film aims to …

SANTA MONICA, July 12: Lionsgate has acquired the independent television distributor Debmar-Mercury, which owns the U.S. distribution rights to South Park and The Dead Zone, among others. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, grants Lionsgate entry into the U.S. television …

HOLLYWOOD, July 12: Fox Mobile Entertainment’s Mobizzo has appointed Natalie Farsi as senior VP of content and m-commerce. In this newly created position, Farsi is responsible for overseeing content and m-commerce and is responsible for expanding the group's content offering. …

PITTSBURGH, July 12: FOX Sports and Major League Baseball have inked a seven-year deal that keeps the World Series and All-Star Game exclusively on the FOX network through 2013. FOX Sports’ new agreement with MLB gives the network the rights …

LONDON, July 12: BSkyB has picked up the mobile content rights to Barclays Premiership football in a three-year deal that kicks off in August 2007. Sky won the rights in a bid with News Group Newspapers, publishers of The Sun …

LOS ANGELES, July 12: Two HBO original series—The Wire and Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam, which is returning after a ten-year break—will premiere on HBO On Demand six days prior to their debuts on the main HBO channel. Beginning September …

SEOUL/HONG KONG, July 12: Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) is working with the South Korean media company JoongAng Ilbo (JAI) to launch Cartoon Network Korea later this year featuring a mix of Korean and international animation. In compliance with Korean broadcast …

BURBANK, July 11: DIC Entertainment has formed a joint venture with Thomopoulos Productions to form Promise Media Productions, which aims to develop and distribute “positive value” content for kids. Promise Media Productions will develop original live-action and animated branded content …