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NEW YORK: Total advertising spending in the U.S. in the first quarter fell 0.1 percent from the year-ago period, at $30.1 billion, according to the latest figures from Kantar Media. Cable expenditures were up by 5.2 percent, thanks to an increase in the volume of ad time and stronger demand …

HOLLYWOOD: Skydance Productions, which launched its TV division around two months ago, has hired Carolyn Harris to serve as the VP of Skydance Television. The company, led by David Ellison as CEO, also promoted Bill Bost to manager of development and Sasha Garron to coordinator. Harris, Bost and Garron report to …

DALLAS: Rick Santorum, a former United States senator who ran for president last year, has been appointed as EchoLight Studios’ new CEO. Santorum has spent the past year helping to develop EchoLight Studios, which finances, markets and distributes faith-based family movies across multiple platforms. The company’s first film, titled The Redemption …

LOS ANGELES: According to data from Film L.A., of the 186 broadcast and cable pilots produced for U.S. networks in the 2012/2013 development cycle, 97 were shot in L.A., giving the city a 52-percent market share. The 97 projects in Los Angeles is the second-largest tally for the city, and …

CULVER CITY: The YouTube multi-channel network Maker Studios is being sued by its co-founder and former CEO Danny Zappin, alleging that he was the victim of a conspiracy to oust him. A civil suit was filed in state Superior Court in Los Angeles by Zappin and three other founders. The …

SCOTTSDALE: While the technology is in place to increase TV Everywhere offerings, the market is being slowed down by issues with securing the rights for the content, says ABI Research. ABI Research finds that nearly one-third of U.S. Telco TV households are expected to access multiscreen or TV Everywhere services by the end …

CHICAGO: The controversial TV streaming service Aereo is continuing its nationwide rollout with an official launch in Chicago planned for September 13. Aereo’s technology, which has come under heavy fire from U.S. broadcasters, allows consumers to pause, rewind and fast-forward any program they are watching live or save a show for …

NEW YORK: Charlie Foley has become the executive VP of Discovery Communications’ new original content group. Foley’s duties include creating, writing and executive producing scripted programming as well as nonfiction shows and formats. He is also responsible for supervising a team devoted to creating and producing content for Discovery Networks …

NEW YORK: Pivot, a Millennial-targeted cable network from Participant Media, is due to launch on August 1 with the premiere of its live midnight talk show TakePart Live. TakePart Live will be airing five nights a week, featuring the latest headlines, daily memes and conversations with a wide range of …

NEW YORK: Spike TV is building out its sports lineup with the addition of GLORY Sports International kickboxing programming. The live sports programming will run as two-hour events in prime time on select Saturday nights on Spike. GLORY Sports International’s kickboxing fight series include multi-man tournaments, as well as traditional, single …