Entertainment One (eOne) has sold Australian drama series The Newsreader (pictured) to a raft of international broadcasters. Created and produced by Michael Lucas (Five Bedrooms) for Australia’s ABC and directed by Emma Freeman (Stateless), the six-part series stars Anna Torv (Mindhunter) as a news anchor in Melbourne navigating newsroom drama in the 1980s.

The Newsreader has been sold to broadcasters in Canada (Telus); the U.K. (BBC); France and Germany (ARTE); Ireland (RTE); the Nordic and Baltic regions, Poland and The Netherlands (Viaplay); Spain (Cosmo), Portugal); Hong Kong (Now TV); and Latin America (NBCUniversal International Networks & Direct-To-Consumer).

The series is produced by Werner Films Productions. Executive producers include Joanna Werner and Stuart Menzies alongside ABC’s Sally Riley and Brett Sleigh.

so.da

Corus Entertainment’s digital agency so.da has partnered with social media platform Snapchat to provide content for its Discover page. The so.da lifestyle titles immediately available to view for Snapchat’s more than 10 million Canadian users are Baking Therapy and This is How She Does It. Other titles, such as Made You Look and Go Here Meet Her, will be available in March.

The partnership also includes the new ET Canada – Entertainment Bite, to make Global’s half-hour entertainment news available as short-form content, as well as additional new content tailored for Snapchat audiences.

Dark Slope 

U.S. streaming service Peacock has renewed Babble Bop! for a second season. The children’s series, available in both a 7 x 30-minute format and 84 x 2.5 minutes, is produced by Toronto’s Dark Slope Studios and features a variety of characters dancing and singing along to classic nursery rhymes and original songs. It is written by Katherine Stanford and directed by Luke Jurevicius and Tim D.P. Thompson. Executive producers on Babble Bop! are Dan Fill and Raja Khanna, with Christine Thompson serving as producer.

Guru Studio

Toronto’s Guru Studio has named Rai Com as the licensing agent for preschool series PikWik Pack in Italy. The Rome-based company will handle licensing and merchandising for the series, including media, publishing, apparel, accessories and games. PikWik Pack premiered in Italy this February and is available on Treehouse in Canada, Hulu in the U.S., Tiny Pop in the U.K. and Disney+ in Australia and New Zealand. Guru secured a raft of broadcast deals for the preschool series in the fall.

Gusto Worldwide Media

Ottawa’s international food channel Gusto TV has secured a partnership with ad-supported streaming service WhaleLive, owned by Beijing’s ZEASN, to expand its availability in China. The channel is currently available in approximately 160 countries across 30 platforms, according to Gusto Worldwide Media, with content available in English, Spanish and Mandarin.

“Gusto TV has established itself as one of the most culturally diverse culinary channels in the industry,” said Chris Knight, CEO and president of Gusto Worldwide Media, in a statement. “Partnering with WhaleLive, we’re delighted to continue to share our food stories with more viewers while remaining true to our ethos and cultural values.”