LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- US entertainment giant Walt Disney has ruled out a new distribution deal with Pixar Animation Studios to continue their lucrative partnership, the CNBC TV reported Wednesday.

    "We are not in any discussions with Pixar right now," Disney President and Chief Operating Officer Robert Iger told reporters in London, adding that it had been approached to buy UK televisionchannel ITV as well some assets of the BBC.

    "We're professional tire-kickers, we look at everything," he told a conference.

    Disney and Pixar terminated their talks in January to extend a13-year distribution partnership, that has created such cartoon hits as "Finding Nemo,""Monsters Inc.," "Toy Story" series.

    The talks broke off because two failed to agree on new terms that would be more favorable to Pixar, which has since met with other studios and says it has plenty of time to strike a new deal.     

    Pixar's last film under the distribution deal with Disney is "Cars," which will be delivered in 2005.

    Pixar has propped up Disney's animation business, which has stumbled with such box-office misses as "Treasure Planet" and "Atlantis: The Lost Empire."

    Pixar films have accounted for as much as half of the studio's operating income in recent years. "Nemo," which amassed more than 800 million dollars in worldwide ticket sales, is expected to net a profit of more than half a billion dollars.

    At the core of their dispute during the negotiations was Pixar's demand for a bigger cut of the profits from Disney.

    Under the existing deal since 1997, Pixar and Disney split profits and costs evenly, with Disney taking an additional fee to distribute the films. Pixar demands for all profits while paying Disney a distribution fee of about 10 percent. Enditem