Chief executives at Italian state broadcaster RAI have been asked to resign by prominent members of the government in response to the broadcaster's decision to move RAI2, one of its three channels, from Rome to Milan, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini has asked the RAI board of directors to step down, especailly RAI president Antonio Baldassarre, who heads the board, and its general director Agostino Sacca.

Haim Saban, billionaire entrepreneur who ran Saban Entertainment and Fox Family Worldwide before selling off those assets, reportedly will make a binding offer for bankrupt Kirch Media in Germany according to DAILY VARIETY. He is meeting with creditor banks with his chief strategy officer Adam Chesnoff and examining Kirch Media's books. Media conglomerate Kirch owns one of Germany's largest broadcasting groups, ProSiebenSat 1, as well as a vast film library. German publisher Heinrich Bauer is also interested in buying the group.

Bankrupt Stan Lee Media is suing Merrill Lynch brokerage, seeking $10 million for the firm's alleged part in the company's demise, according to a report by Associated Press. The Internet company named after comics creator Stan Lee filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court, alleging the brokerage firm didn’t do enough to keep Stephen Gordon, former VP Stan Lee Media, and his brother Jonathan, a Merrill Lynch financial consultant, from running an alleged scheme to manipulate the price of the company's stock.

Dr. Peter Duval has resigned from his position as speaker of the managing board of German entertainment company RTV as of January 31, 2003. During the recent restructuring process, the business volume of RTV has been reduced considerably and Duval stated that he no longer wanted to be at the disposal of the restructured company. This restructuring reduced the amount of ongoing production obligations the company had.

In a February 6, 2003 fourth quarter and fiscal year earnings teleconference, Steve Jobs confirmed that Pixar was in initial talks with other major motion picture studios, heightening the speculation that Pixar may not renew its partnership with Disney once the seventh film under the current deal is completed. Under the conditions of the existing agreement, Pixar had the right to begin negotiations after the fifth film was delivered.

IDT Media is expanding its animation business, offering its services to toy companies to create low-cost 3D series for television or home video. IDT's production subsidiary Digital Production Solutions (DPS) and its Global Animation Studio plan to provide high-quality 3D animation solutions at a lower cost for toy manufacturers.

Profits are down but theme park attendance is up, as The Walt Disney Company reported earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 2002. Net income in the quarter was $256 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with net income of $438 million, or 21 cents, in the same quarter last year. These figures included an after-tax charge of $83 million, or 4 cents per share, for investments in aircraft leveraged leases with United Airlines.

The fur continues to fly in the Winnie the Pooh royalties case, as The Walt Disney Company has now asked a Superior Court judge to dismiss the nearly twelve year-old lawsuit. According to an AP report, Disney accused Stephen Slesinger Inc., the company that owns the Winnie the Pooh merchandising rights, of "pervasive misconduct and illegal activities," including stealing documents by rifling through Disney's garbage. Disney also said the company destroyed potential evidence in the case.

Target Distribution has changed its name to Target Entertainment to better reflect the company's growth from a distribution to a rights management outfit. Target has also completed a move into parent company CSS Stellar's offices in Covent Garden, London, as well as opening a U.S. base in CSS Stellar's New York offices. Overseeing the new venture is Ellen Lovejoy, who joins Target as president, Americas and Australia/New Zealand.

German entertainment company EM.TV & Merchandising AG is close to paying off half of its so-called "Junior loan," allowing its previously announced sale intention of half of the Muppets stake to continue. The consortium banks of EM.TV have decided to extend the term for repayment of the remainder of the "Junior loan" by three months, until the end of April 2003. The "Junior loan" financed EM.TV’s 50% acquisition of its interest in the Junior TV joint venture with the failed Kirch Media Group.

VirtualMagic Animation, the North Hollywood-based digital ink, paint and compositing company and former production division of USAnimation, is on the block. According to president Don Spielvogel, the company is being put up for sale by its investors as a result of the changing dynamics of the cartoon animation business in the U.S., as well as the wishes of its non-animation industry investors to move on.

According to the latest sales figures from market information company The NPD Group, total U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in 2002 grew 10% from the previous year. The video game industry generated $10.3 billion in sales, surpassing the previous record high of $9.4 billion in 2001. The NPD Group credits the healthy increase in sales to the success of key properties such as: GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY, MADDEN NFL 2003, SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE, SPIDER-MAN: THE MOVIE, HALO and TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL.

Discreet has entered into an exclusive development and distribution partnership with New Orleans-based Turbo Squid, Inc., the world's premier marketplace for online digital assets. Turbo Squid will act as the worldwide developer, publisher and distributor for the Discreet Certified 3ds max Plug-in Program. Working together, Discreet and Turbo Squid will carefully select plug-ins that bring compelling value to 3ds max artists.

Kim Mitzo Thompson and Karen Mitzo Hilderbrand, the founders of Twin Sisters Productions, Inc., have repurchased from CINAR Corporation the company they founded. The deal was concluded on January 13, 2003 for US$1.5 million. The sale also settled the outstanding litigation claims against CINAR by Twin Sisters.

Former Nelvana executive Toper Taylor has formed ToperTaylor.com, a Los Angeles-based marketing firm specializing in all areas of kids and family entertainment.

New York's Abandon Entertainment is making inroads in the Japanese market with the help of agency Creek & River. Abandon has teamed with Creek & River to gain direct access to unique and untapped Japanese properties across television, comic books, anime and games. The company, which includes Abandon Television, Abandon Internet Group and Collision Entertainment, hopes to access properties that have the potential to be exploited internationally across multiple distribution platforms.

Raven Moon Entertainment, Inc., a producer of children’s programming based in Orlando, Florida, plans to spin off Raven Moon Home Video Products LLC into a separate publicly traded corporation. Pending shareholder approval, the spin-off would take place by the end of April 2003. The proposed spin-off is expected to reduce Raven Moon Entertainment's debt by approximately $1,000,000.

The Walt Disney Company can rest easy for another twenty years as the Supreme Court has upheld a 1998 Congressional Act extending existing copyrights. On Wednesday, January 15, 2003, the justices voted 7-2 to uphold the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), a 1998 law that extended millions of existing copyrights by an additional 20 years.

Creative edit house Northern Lights Post has launched a visual effects design division, which will be headed by effects artist/designer Tera Petersen. Petersen's experience includes CG/design work on commercials for Pepsi, Doritos 3D and Fruitopia, among others. "This is a natural progression for Northern Lights," said Northern Lights co-founder/editor David Gioiella.

In an effort to strategically streamline and organize its children's television animation programming, production and distribution under one business unit, Disney has moved Television Animation into the Disney Channel Worldwide division with former Television Animation executive vice president Barry Blumberg replacing David Stainton as president, Walt Disney Television Animation.