Emmy for Toon Boom

Montreal’s Toon Boom Animation has won the Primetime Emmy Engineering Award for its software USAnimation Opus, and will claim the prize at the Los Angeles ceremony on Sept. 11. The software is used to develop 2D animation series by the likes of Walt Disney Television, Fox, Universal, Nelvana and Warner Bros. and is designed to adapt to projects of any size.

Reach for the moon

Fisher Price has won the licensing rights to Lunar Jim, the stop-motion animated series by Alliance Atlantis and The Halifax Film Company. The toymaker will turn out action figures, vehicles and other role-playing gear for the series, set to debut next year on BBC Kids. The series is set on the moon and aims to help preschoolers develop problem-solving skills. Financial details were not disclosed. Lunar Jim toys will hit the shelves in fall 2006.

Rogers and TSN split soccer

Rogers Sportsnet has struck a deal with TSN to split the broadcast of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The 64 soccer matches will be divided between the casters, with TSN’s parent CTV carrying the final game. The deal paves the way for the airing of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, also to be shared between CTV and Rogers outlets. Sportsnet president Doug Beeford and TSN president Phil King say the deal serves to give Canadians the best possible coverage of the soccer tournament, which starts June 9, 2006 in Germany.