Barry Frey has been named senior vice-president, managing director, global advertising sales for Hallmark Channel, international edition of the Hallmark Channel, according to a company release.

The announcement was made by Andy Brilliant, executive vice president, sales and marketing and deputy CEO for Crown Media International, Inc. and Hallmark Channel. The appointment was effective May 1 and Frey will be based in New York, reporting directly to Brilliant.

"Barry is a results-oriented innovator whose knowledge and experience in the global television marketplace are invaluable," Brilliant commented. "His management and leadership skills will especially aid us during our continued expansion into new territories."

Frey will be responsible for all international advertising efforts worldwide and managing the company‘s advertising sales operation for Hallmark Channel. In addition to building the channel‘s client base in Europe, Latin America, and Asia, Frey will also focus on the development of new national sales opportunities within those regions.

Frey earlier served as senior vice-president global sales and marketing at SPACE.com. He has also had stints in senior positions with the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he headed the division that managed and marketed the integrated media properties for the NBA, WNBA and USA Basketball; USA Networks Inc. and MCA Broadcasting.

After a series of modifications, Indian multimedia production firm Pentamedia Graphics Ltd and US-based animation producer Film Roman Inc. have reached agreement on a deal that gives Pentamedia a 49.9 per cent stake in Film Roman valued at $10,000,000.

Under the new terms, Pentamedia will be issued one new share of Film Roman‘s common stock for each $1.17 in value it receives from Pentamedia. Upon completion of the transaction, Pentamedia will own up to 49.946% of Film Roman‘s common stock, with an overall valuation of up to $10,000,000. The specifics of the restructured transaction are being finalised by the two companies and any necessary approvals will be sought in the near future, the release states.

In a joint statement, V Chandrasekaran, CEO of Pentamedia and John Hyde, CEO of Film Roman said: "We have restructured the agreement between us and look forward to finalising the transaction so that we can start building on the strengths of our respective companies."

Early last month the whole deal seemed threatened with Film Roman filing a complaint with the US Securities & Exchange Commission claiming Pentamedia was unable to close the transaction on terms earlier agreed by both the firms and approved by Film Roman‘s shareholders.

As per the earlier agreement, Pentamedia was to acquire a fully diluted 60 per cent stake of Film Roman in the form of newly issued common stock for $15 million in cash.

It was in October last year that Pentamedia last year announced a deal with Film Roman which it said would help it get better access to the US markets.

Zee News has decided one way to keep rival Aaj Tak at bay is to strengthen its regional news bureaus.

In all the states where the Zee Network has regional channels the bureaus are being strengthened. The content on Zee News will be enhanced while at the same time beefing the local news feeds being provided to the regional channels of the network.

The regional language Alpha Bangla, Alpha Marathi, Alpha Gujarati and Alpha Punjabi are part of the Zee bouquet while the Bharati Channel in Tamil Nadu, Kaveri in Karnataka and Asianet in Kerala are channels where Zee has a stake.

The upcoming state assembly elections in to the states of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu will provide an opportunity for Zee to test how far the emphasis on regional news will translate in terms of viewership.