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JAKARTA/LOS ANGELES: Saban Capital Group has bought a 5-percent stake in the Indonesian media company Media Nusantara Citra (MNC) for 692 billion rupiah ($78.2 million). In a deal with majority owner Global Mediacom, Saban Capital Group subsidiary Indonesia Media Partners …

TAIPEI: Smart TVs are poised to see significant growth next year, with shipments to double to 52.85 million units, according to the Topology Research Institute, compared to 48.2 million 3D TV shipments. The Taiwan-based research company said 7.04 million smart …

LONDON: BBC iPlayer usage via tablets was up 15 percent last month, with 4.6 million requests to view or listen to BBC shows in September. BBC iPlayer received 153 million requests for TV and radio programs across all platforms in September. …

LONDON: ITV has secured a three-year deal for the broadcast rights to UEFA Europa League football, ending Channel 5’s coverage of the competition. The deal, which runs from the 2012-13 season to 2014-15, will see ITV broadcast the first- and second-pick Europa …

NEW YORK: Time Warner Cable is to offer its digital costumers two new films, Trespass and Margin Call, the same day as their theatrical releases, and a third, Melancholia, before it hits theaters. Trespass, starring Nicholas Cage and Nicole Kidman, …

HONG KONG: CASBAA has added to its speaker lineup NBCUniversal’s Jeff Shell, CITVC’s Liang Xiao Tao and Microsoft’s Blair Westlake. Shell is the president of NBCUniversal International. He will be speaking about his vision for pay TV. Tao, the president …

LONDON: Classic Media is launching an international licensing program for the Where’s Wally? brand, with deals spanning across Australia, Japan and Western Europe. “This iconic search and find brand is a proven hit in publishing and gaming globally, and is …

CHARLOTTE: SPEED, the U.S. cable television network featuring automotive and motorcycle racing, is launching the new Leopard Films USA game show series Pumped! in November. Pumped! is produced by Leopard Films USA, part of the Argonon group, and will be …

LOS ANGELES: Saban Brands has secured a promotion agreement for the Paul Frank brand with 7-Eleven convenience stores in Hong Kong, following the recent opening of a flagship Paul Frank store in China. The nine-week Paul Frank promotion kicked off …

ARLINGTON: PBS Kids is to feature the original Curious George movie as part of its Curious George Holiday Spectacular broadcasting event on November 23. The three-movie spectacular kicks off with Curious George, featuring the voices of Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore …