MUMBAI: The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences have announced the winners of the 40th International Emmy Awards at a Gala event held at the New York Hilton, hosted by Regis Philbin.

Winners span six countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany and the UK. For the first time, both performance categories were won by an Actor and Actress from the same series, Television x La Inclusion (Argentina).

Jessica Lange presented the International Emmy Founders Award to Ryan Murphy, the creator, writer and director of television shows ?Glee?, ?American Horror Story? and ?Nip/Tuck?. After receiving his award, Murphy in turn, presented the two special 40th anniversary Founders Awards to global television legends Alan Alda ?M*A*S*H *? and Norman Lear ?All in The Family?.

The International Emmy Directorate Award was presented to KBS president, CEO Dr. Kim In-Kyu who is also Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union president. The nine International Emmy Award Winning programs and performances are: Songs of War (Arts Programming), Dar?o Grandinetti (Best Performance by an Actor), Cristina Banegas (Best Performance by an Actress), The Invisible Woman (Comedy) , Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die (Documentary), Braquo season 2 (Drama Series), The Amazing Race Australia (Non-Scripted Entertainment), The Illusionist (Telenovela), and Black Mirror (TV Movie/Mini-Series).

Academy president Bruce L. Paisner said, "The International Academy is proud to be shining the spotlight on the world?s best television programming and performances, for the last 40 years, and we congratulate tonight?s winners for their outstanding achievements as they enter into Emmy history".

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia and Hong Kong-based Legend have sealed an agreement to broadcast Legend Fighting Championship (LFC), the Asia-Pacific Championship of Mixed Martial Arts, on AXN in 21 territories across the region.

The deal grants AXN the first and exclusive rights to broadcast all Legend Fighting Championship events from October 2012 through August 2013. In addition, four of the most recently concluded Legend Fighting Championship tournaments will premiere first and exclusively on AXN in the coming months.

Sony Pictures Television executive VP, GM Networks, Asia Ricky Ow said, "We are very excited to be partnering with Legend to showcase some of the best and most established Asian MMA fighters. Many of these fighters are already household names in Japan, Korea and China, where LFC has a huge following. We have no doubt that our broadcast of these thrilling fights on AXN will further enhance the popularity of LFC, especially amongst our viewers across South East Asia".

Legend MD Chris Pollak said, "This partnership with AXN begins an exciting new chapter in the Legend story. Since Legend was established, we have dedicated ourselves to growing the sport of MMA here in the Asia-Pacific and giving fighters from this region the opportunity to compete in a world-class organization. AXN is Asia‘s premiere platform for entertainment, and we are excited to bring the best in Asia-Pacific MMA to their audience, particularly since so many of Legend‘s elite fighters hail from AXN‘s key broadcast markets".

Founded in Hong Kong, Legend Fighting Championship invites exclusively the highest-level professional martial artists throughout China and Asia-Pacific to compete in a freestyle tournament using interdisciplinary martial arts skills including boxing, Brazilian jiujitsu, judo, Muay Thai, Sambo, Sanda, Taekwondo and wrestling in supervised matches under a strict set of rules designed to promote athlete safety.

The series focuses on the multi-faceted, tactical nature of mixed martial arts where athletes are armed with a well-rounded skill-set in striking, grappling, and submissions to compete. Since January 2010, 10 Legend Fighting Championship events have been completed. The most recent event included 20 fighters from several countries including India, Australia, China, Indonesia and New Zealand.