* TSN has secured a multi-year agreement to air the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, which gets underway in May, until October 2007. The deal includes 12 one-hour broadcasts, which will consist of race coverage, driver interviews and features. The sportscaster recently acquired broadcast rights to all 35 NASCAR Busch Series races, including the inaugural Montreal race.

* MuchMusic has signed a deal with Amp’d Mobile that will see the youth-aimed U.S. cell phone carrier run video-on-demand, live video and other content from the Much line of channels. Amp’d will stream live video from MuchMusic, MuchVibe and MuchRetro, plus original shows including Intimate & Interactive and Live@Much, under the terms of the exclusive two-year deal starting in March.

* Decode Entertainment and Aardman Animations in the U.K. have sold the second season (26 x 11) of Planet Sketch to Nicktoons in the U.S. The CGI series, commissioned here by Teletoon, will premiere on the Nickelodeon-owned cartoon channel this spring.

* Nelvana and Toronto-based manufacturer Spin Master have signed a deal to turn out a line of specialty toys and games for the series Di-gata Defenders and Bakugan. Lines of products for both cartoons debuted at the Canadian Toy & Hobby Fair, held last month in Toronto, and will soon be available in stores.