Geographical Region: Europe

The Walt Disney Co. board of directors today (June 28, 2006) elected independent Disney director and former Procter & Gamble chairman/ceo John E. Pepper, Jr., to serve as non-executive chairman of the board, effective Jan. 1, 2007. Pepper succeeds Senator George J. Mitchell, who has served as Disney chairman since March 2004.

A.D.Vision Inc. announced a substantial investment in the company today (June 27, 2006) by Japanese Contents Investment LPS (JCI), an investor group led by Sojitz Corp., in exchange for a minority equity stake. Additionally, was made by ARM Corp., a subsidiary of JCI, made a separate capital commitment for the acquisition of new filmed content.

Through its home video, broadcast, licensing, theatrical and publishing divisions, Houston-based A.D.Vision is the leading producer/distributor of Japanese animation and anime-related content outside Japan.

THQ Inc. is helping fans of Disney/Pixar film CARS continue the ride with a videogame, based upon the animated feature. The game, released for play on PlayStation2, Xbox GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PSP, Windows PC and Mac, is available at retail outlets in the U.S. It will also be available worldwide in 18 languages, and in more than 40 countries, including China, Thailand, Japan, Russia and Poland. Also this fall, the CARS videogame is expected to release for Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

Nick Jr. has greenlit a second season of the hit animated series, THE WONDER PETS! The groundbreaking series, which premiered March 3, 2006, has consistently ranked among the top three preschool programs on all of commercial television.

Created and exec produced by Josh Selig of Little Airplane Prods. Inc., THE WONDER PETS! stars three courageous classroom pets who sing opera and travel the world as they take preschoolers on musical world adventures. THE WONDER PETS! airs regularly on Nick Jr. weekdays at 11:00 am.

Twenty-four French production and distribution companies, organized by TV France International, are expected to attend Discop East in Budapest, June 22-24, 2006, at the Sofitel Atrium Hotel.

DISCOP 06, the only television content & formats market strictly targeted at central & eastern European marketplaces, will open to record numbers in all categories this week, it was announced by Patrick Jucaud, gm, DISCOP; and Rick Feldman, president/ceo, National Assoc. of Television Program Executives (NATPE), DISCOPs joint partner.

Now in its 15th year, the market will open in Budapest on June 22 at noon in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution.