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NEW YORK: Kate O’Brian, a 30-year veteran of ABC, has been appointed president of Al Jazeera America, while Ehab Al Shihabi, Al Jazeera’s executive director for international operations, has been named as an interim CEO. O’Brian had been serving as the senior VP of ABC News. She will now be …

LOS ANGELES: Amy Powell is expanding her role at Paramount to include responsibilities as president of its recently established TV division. For the past two years Powell has been leading Paramount’s digital arm. She also oversees Insurge Pictures, which is a Paramount Pictures initiative aimed at distributing movies that are "unique …

SILVER SPRING: TLC is set to premiere Surviving the In-Laws, a scripted series based on real-life stories, later this month. The series, which the network says is "loosely scripted," features the stories of newlyweds with overbearing in-laws. The stories are true but the identities have been changed to protect the …

NEW YORK: IFC has renewed the comedy Maron for a second season, upping its episode order from 10 to 13 episodes. The all-new episodes are due to launch in 2014. Maron is from writer/comedian Marc Maron, the man behind the "WTF" podcast. “In many ways, Marc is a perfect representation of …

DAYTONA BEACH/NEW YORK: NBCUniversal has secured the exclusive rights to a host of NASCAR races and events starting in 2015 and running through the 2024 season. The comprehensive agreement between NASCAR and NBC Sports Group covers the exclusive rights for the final 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, final 19 …

ENGLEWOOD: The United States Court of Appeals has upheld a previous ruling that rejects the Fox Broadcasting Company’s efforts to ban DISH subscribers from using ad-skipping and automatic recording features on the Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR. The issue is with the PrimeTime Anytime feature that allows consumers to record prime-time …

MOUNTAIN VIEW: Google is making a further push into the TV landscape, by introducing Chromecast, which plugs into TVs to stream content from the Internet. The device, which is $35 and 2 inches in length, plugs directly into a TV’s HDMI port to connect with your home WiFi network. Viewers can …

LOS ANGELES: Alongside a number of returning shows on the OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network schedule is a new docu-series that centers on sports legend Deion Sanders, tentatively titled It’s Prime’s Time. New episodes of Oprah’s Next Chapter are airing this summer Sundays at 9 p.m. Upcoming episodes feature Hugh Jackman, …

SAN JOSE: TiVo Research and Analytics (TRA) has released findings from its new study that shows that subscribing to Netflix is not cannibalizing the amount of linear TV viewing in TiVo households. TRA surveyed nearly 10,000 respondents who opted to have their set-top-box viewing info collected. The purpose was to …

UNIVERSAL CITY: NBC has expanded its lineup of event programming with three new mini-series, including one based on the life of former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as a limited series. The four-hour Hillary will be written and directed by Courtney Hunt (Frozen River). Diane …