Nickelodeon Animation Hires New Zealand-Based Production Company 'Oktobor Animation' To Provide Animation And Post Production Services On Seasons 2 And 3 Of "Kung Fu Panda, Legends of Awesomeness"

From Omnilab Media:

Nickelodeon Animation brings Kung Fu Panda to New Zealand

Auckland, NZ. Oktobor Animation, New Zealand’s largest CG animation studio, has signed on to provide animation and post services on seasons 2 and 3 of “Kung Fu Panda, Legends of Awesomeness” for Nickelodeon Animation Studios Inc. This marks the third series Oktobor Animation has produced for Nickelodeon. In May of 2010 Nickelodeon and Oktobor inked a long term output deal that has seen Oktobor become one of Nickelodeon’s hub international studios. Prior projects under the pact between Nickelodoen and Oktobor include Emmy Award winning “Fanboy and Chum Chum”and Penguins of Madagascar” as well as the yet to be released buddy comedy series, “Robot and Monster.”

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Oktobor Animation

Based in Auckland New Zealand, Oktobor Animation is now in production on multiple CG-animated series seen in over 400 million homes all over the world, including Nickelodeon’s Emmy® Award-winning, “The Penguins of Madagascar” and “Kung Fu Panda”, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", and the hilarious upcoming buddy-comedy "Robot and Monster”.

Oktobor Animation has grown to a team of over 130 creative artists delivering hundreds of minutes of top-quality animation in [their] first year alone. [They] did this with a proven CG pipeline designed from the ground up to be flexible, ensuring that [they] can adapt to all of [their] clients' differing workflows and needs; [They] tackle projects big and small with the same technological innovation, aesthetic sophistication, and can-do creative approach that has seen many a big dream achieved in New Zealand.

[They] also have an office in Los Angeles and are committed to [their] relationships with current clients, building new partnerships, and developing new projects and technologies for film, television, and interactive.

TCI Hedge Fund Sold Entire Viacom Stake In First Quarter

From Bloomberg:

TCO Hedge Fund Sold Entire Viacom Stake in First Quarter

Children's Investment Fund Management UK LLP, the London-based hedge fund run by Christopher Cooper- Hohn, sold its entire stake in Viacom (VIAB) Inc. in the first quarter.

TCI sold 4.3 million shares valued at $194.5 million as of March 31, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Commission. The stake in the New York-based media company was TCI’s third-biggest U.S. holding at the end of 2011.

Viacom, which owns the MTV and Nickelodeon cable channels, rose 4.5 percent in the first quarter after gaining 17 percent in the last three months of 2011. Other hedge funds that sold Viacom shares this year include Eric Mindich’s Eton Park Capital Management LP, which reduced its stake by 59 percent to 4.5 million shares.

TCI officials didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Cooper-Hohn started TCI in 2003, which earmarks a portion of the fees it receives from clients to the Children's Investment Fund Foundation. The foundation is a charity run by his wife, Jaime.

TCI's biggest U.S. holding remains News Corp. (NWSA), the media company run by Rupert Murdoch that has been embroiled in a phone-hacking scandal. TCI owned 50 million shares valued $985 million as of March 31, down from 51.6 million shares at the end of 2011.

Also, from HFMWeek (blog):

Children’s Investment Fund Management UK, the London-based hedge fund run by Christopher Cooper-Hohn, sold its entire stake in Viacom in the first quarter, Bloomberg reports. TCI sold 4.3m shares valued at $194.5m as of March 31, according to a filing today with the US Securities and Commission. The stake in the New York-based media company was TCI’s third-biggest US holding at the end of 2011. Viacom, which owns the MTV and Nickelodeon cable channels, rose 4.5% in the first quarter after gaining 17% in the last three months of 2011.

Time Warner To Bring Viacom Channels To iPad App For Cable Subscribers In The USA

From Mobile Entertainment:

Time Warner to bring Viacom channels to iPad app

Broadcasters resolve legal differences for the sake of Jersey Shore fans.

Viacom – parent network of MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon – and Time Warner Cable have ended their ongoing lawsuits, which begun over a year ago.

The differences arose when TWC planned to introduce Viacom TV shows to subscribers via its iPad app to allow streaming on the move, similar to the UK's 'Sky Go' service.

Now, the broadcasters have released a joint statement to say: "All of Viacom’s programming will now be available to Time Warner Cable subscribers for in-home viewing via internet protocol-enabled devices such as iPads."

Additionally, the pair claim to have resolved other issues to their mutual satisfaction.

Also, from C21Media:

Viacom, TWC settle iPad dispute

Viacom and Time Warner Cable (TWC) have settled their legal dispute over in-home programme streaming.

Viacom has agreed to make its content available through TWC TV, a service that lets the cable customer’s subscribers access TV content on devices such as tablets and mobile phones while in the home, ending a legal spat which started last year.

“Viacom and Time Warner Cable have agreed to resolve their pending litigations. All of Viacom’s programming will now be available to Time Warner Cable subscribers for in-home viewing via internet protocol-enabled devices such as iPads,” the companies said in a joint statement.

The dispute started last year when TWC introduced Viacom programming to its TWC App, with the companies arguing whether TWC should pay more to allow in-home viewing rights on non-TV devices.

Viacom settled a similar legal case with Cablevision last August, allowing its programming to appear on Cablevision’s Optimum iPad app and other IP devices. Viacom, which owns networks including MTV and Nickelodeon, had sued Cablevision earlier in the year, accusing the company of breaching their distribution deal by streaming Viacom programmes through the app.

Cablevision claimed letting viewers watch programmes on iPads and other devices from within their homes meant the tablets were effectively being used as TV screens.

Terms of the agreement between Viacom and TWC were not disclosed. The companies said that neither side had conceded its original legal position.

Andrew McDonald
17-05-2012
©C21Media

SHOWS: Jersey Shore, The Daily Show
COMPANIES: Time Warner Cable, Viacom
SECTIONS: FutureMedia
COUNTRIES: US