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NEW YORK: Elisabeth Murdoch has opted not to join the board of News Corporation as had been expected, telling the directors that it would be "inappropriate" to include her nomination at this time.  A statement from Viet Dinh, the chairman …

BUENOS AIRES: Telefe International has created a new business development division, to focus on increasing its product portfolio, with an eye toward new platforms and creating strategic alliances and co-productions. Sales executive Guillermo Borensztein will lead the new division, reporting …

BURBANK: ABC has revealed that the eighth season of Marc Cherry‘s Desperate Housewives will be its last, with the series ending in May 2012. ABC has said that the eighth and final season will be presented in a way that …

BUCHAREST: TV Paprika, JimJam and MGM Channel have been added to Romtelecom’s Dolce platform in Romania following a deal with Chello Central Europe. Romtelecom is one of the largest providers of television services in Romania. The three channels are now …

HONG KONG: The TRACE Sports HD channel is now available on AsiaSat 5 in the Asia Pacific. The channel launched August 1 on Hong Kong Broadband Network’s bbtv, with more carriage agreements in Asia to be announced soon. TRACE Sports …

LOS ANGELES/TORONTO: FX Canada is to be launched on November 1, following a deal between Rogers Media and FX Networks. FX Canada, a digital service, will offer FX original series, U.S. acquired movies and series, original Canadian programming and Canadian …

LOS ANGELES: Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is teaming up with writer/producer Ann Druyan and astrophysicist Steven Soter for a 13-part docu-series based on Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, to premiere on FOX in 2013. Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey sees MacFarlane working …

LONDON: A new deal between Acorn Media and ALL3MEDIA International sees the period police drama George Gently airing in the U.S. in 2012. Acorn Media, which manages the series’ DVD rights and released the first three seasons on DVD in …

SÃO PAULO: Globo International’s telenovela Cat’s Cradle (Cuna de Gato) has been sold to more than 15 territories, among them Chile, Uruguay and Portugal. Among the sales Globo has secured for Cat’s Cradle are Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Bolivia, …

TORONTO: Skyreader Media, the eReading division of Skywriter Media and Entertainment Group, has released Giant Trouble, a new interactive eBook iPad app for kids. Giant Trouble is about the biggest giant in Ireland, and his wife who saves him the …