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PREMIUM: George Bodenheimer, the president of ESPN and ABC Sports and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks, tells World Screen Newsflash about serving fans through a “best available screen” strategy. Perhaps no one knows the ESPN fan better than George Bodenheimer. …

NEW YORK: Donald Taffner, Sr., who brought hits such as Three’s Company, Too Close for Comfort and The Benny Hill Show to U.S. audiences, has passed away at the age of 80. Taffner was one of the founders of the …

BURBANK: Actor and comedian Eddie Murphy has signed on to host the Academy Awards show, taking place February 26, 2012, marking his first hosting stint for the Oscars. The Academy Awards telecast will be produced by Brett Ratner and Don …

MADRID: Zoo Productions has picked up the rights from Spanish producer Phileas Productions to adapt the game show The ATM for the U.S. The ATM has also been taken on by Endemol (France and Belgium). The show is set in …

TORONTO/LOS ANGELES/LONDON: Armand Leo has been appointed the VP of production affairs at Entertainment One (eOne). Leo, based in eOne’s Toronto office, will report to Margaret O’Brien, the COO of Entertainment One Television. Leo will oversee eOne’s slate of scripted …

ABIDJAN: Côte Ouest is expanding its catalogue to include African TV content for the English-speaking market, following its recent sub-distribution partnership with M-Net. Côte Ouest will rep M-Net’s African Film Library (AFL), an archive of award-winning African cinema, is comprised …

PARIS: The Moonscoop preschool series SamSam has been picked up in the U.K., Spain and Australia. Seasons one and two of SamSam have been added to Australia’s ABC channel and Turner Broadcasting in Spain for its Boomerang and Boing channels. …

LONDON: FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has secured the international distribution rights to the Pacific Productions series Baking Made Easy, hosted by supermodel-turned-patisserie-chef Lorraine Pascale. FME’s distribution rights exclude the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland. The series became BBC Two’s number …

LOS ANGELES: Lifetime has picked up America’s Most Wanted, which is returning for its 25th season later this year after its recent cancellation. America’s Most Wanted will continue to be hosted by John Walsh, who launched the series in 1988. …

LOS ANGELES: Several cast members of the long-running soap One Life to Live have agreed to join Prospect Park’s new online production. Ted King (Tomas Delgado), Michael Easton (John McBain), Kassie DePaiva (Blair Cramer) and Erika Slezak (Victoria Lord) have …