Wednesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Let’s Play Ball strikes first remake 

Canadian streamer Crave has become the first company to adapt Banijay Rights’ format, Let’s Play Ball.

The physical comedy gameshow, which is built around players directing a gigantic coloured ball, is being produced by Sphere Media and will consist of a 10 x 60-minute show.

The format was originally co-developed by Banijay Benelux label EndemolShine Nederland, Talpa Studios and Signal.Stream. It was coproduced by EndemolShine Nederland and Signal.Stream for SBS6.

DCD sells 150+ hours into CEE

UK-based distributor DCD Rights has sold more than 150 hours of shows to buyers across the CEE region ahead of NEM Dubrovnik next week.

Telewizja Polsat has picked up 38 hours including Secret Nazi Bases S4 and Nazi War Machines: Secrets Uncovered, while WP has acquired Meghan: Building The Brand, Secret Societies: In the Shadows and …From Hell: Caught On Camera Series 1 & 2.

DOX TV in Croatia, and CS Mystery and CS History in Slovakia & Czechia, have bought Is Your Smartphone Spying On You?, Bodies In The Barrels, Natural Born Killer? and Deception: World War II, with LNK Lithuania taking Exploring India With Bettany Hughes and Treasures With Bettany Hughes S2 and S3.

AMC Global Media Central Europe (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia) has also struck deals for cookery series Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen S3, James Martin’s Spanish Adventure and Nadiya’s Food Adventure. All sales were negotiated by James Anderson, senior sales manager at DCD Rights.

France’s Canal+ lists in South Africa

Canal+ has formally joined the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on a secondary listing.

The media outfit becomes the first French company to list on the JSE and comes after Canal+ acquired South African operator Multichoice last year.

Canal+’s primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange, which it joined in 2025 following its split from Vivendi.

Korea’s Torycoms eyes scripted expansion

South Korean webtoon production house Torycoms has formed a creative partnership with UK- and US-based publishing and distribution company Rock & Rose Studios.

The pact aims to develop scripted projects based on Torycoms’ webtoons and formats, with Rock & Rose working to identify high-potential titles and shape international rights strategies.

Both companies will work jointly across rights management, international sales, creative development, and cross-border adaptation opportunities.

Several projects are already underway, but details under wraps. Torycoms was founded in 2017 and is behind Traces of the Moon, which has amassed over 100 million reads worldwide.