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BRUSSELS: The Association of Commercial Television, which represents 32 broadcasters across Europe, is calling on the European Commission to give the region’s content sector a greater role in its Digital Agenda mandate. The Commission’s Digital Agenda is a road map …

SANTA MONICA: Nickelodeon has given the new live-action comedy How to Rock, featuring recording artist Cymphonique Miller, a 20-episode order for a 2012 premiere. The series centers on Kacey Simon (Miller), a talented teen who takes her pop/hip-hop band to …

LONDON: Tom Toumazis is leaving Endemol to become CEO of the pan-European publishing group Mecom, effective this August. Upon Toumazis’s arrival, Stephen Davidson, currently executive chairman of Mecom, will become non-executive chairman. It is not yet clear if Toumazis’s post …

LOS ANGELES: Jon Heder of Napoleon Dynamite and Blades of Glory is set to star in and executive-produce Gulliver Quinn (working title), a comedy series pilot for Disney XD. The Gulliver Quinn script was written by Dan Kopelman of Malcolm in the …

LONDON: WWE is opening up an office in Mumbai to drive the expansion of its business in India, to be led by Rukn Kizilbash as general manager. Kizilbash, who previously held positions at Percept, Ten Sports, IMG and ESPN Star Sports, …

LOS ANGELES: An additional 50 one-hour episodes of the tween telenovela Grachi have been commissioned by Nickelodeon Latin America. The broadcast was initially planned for 75 episodes, but the show’s success has prompted an additional order. The novela earned 3.6 …

NEW YORK: Univision Communications has appointed Rick Alessandri as senior VP of business development. Alessandri spent more than ten years at ESPN, serving in a range of roles that culminated in senior VP and managing director for the X Games franchise and senior …

BARCELONA: Imira Entertainment has scored a number of deals in Iberia for its slate of third-party animation and live-action series. In Spain, Imira secured a deal with Canal Panda España, with the pay-TV channel acquiring seven shows including Millimages’ 52×7-minute Bugged, …

LOS ANGELES: The Mouse House brought out its top guns Sunday night for the 11th annual Disney International Upfronts, which is the first chance foreign program buyers have to savor the new shows licensed by the Hollywood studio, reports Elizabeth …

LOS ANGELES: More than any one single show, NBCUniversal’s slate as a whole got thumbs-up from a crowd of 300 Latin buyers Sunday as the LA Screenings began to gear up for its crucial phase over the next five days, writes …