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NEW YORK: The World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands garnered a total of 24.3 million viewers in the U.S. on ABC and Univision, making it the most-watched soccer game in the country’s TV history, according to data from …

CHICAGO: Hugh Hefner, backed by a private-equity firm, has made a bid to take the company he founded, Playboy Enterprises, private, but could be facing a rival bid from the company that owns Penthouse.   The Playboy Enterprises (PEI) board …

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s policy on indecency, calling it a violation of the First Amendment. In the ruling, the court said that the FCC’s indecency rules …

VINCENNES/ROME: Gaumont-Alphanim is joining Italy’s Cartoon One as co-producer for the second season of the animated series Teen Days. The 26×30-minute series is directed by Maurizio Nichetti. The first season was produced by Cartoon One in co-production with Rai Fiction. …

MILAN: Atlantyca Entertainment and Moonscoop have signed new deals for the 3D animated property Dive Olly Dive! for publishing and home video in Malaysia and Singapore. The publishing deal includes the translation rights to Pelican Publishing for six titles created …

LOS ANGELES: Comcast and NBC Universal, in the midst of a regulatory review of their proposed merger, have struck a deal with the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) to create additional opportunities for independent producers. The accord is intended to …

EMERYVILLE: MobiTV has upped Joanne Waage, a five-year veteran of the company, to VP of strategic media partnerships and programming. In her time with MobiTV, a company founded in 1999 to drive the technology in bringing live TV to mobile …

LONDON: The Foundation, part of RDF Media Group, has been commissioned to produce a second season of the kids’ series Skillicious with Fruit Shoot H20, which will air on CITV this summer. The soft drink producer Britvic returns as partner …

LOS ANGELES: The U.S. version of Shameless and Matt LeBlanc’s new comedy series Episodes are slated to premiere on Showtime in January, alongside season four of Californication. Shameless, from Warner Bros. Television, based on the acclaimed Channel 4 series and starring William …

LONDON: A number of new global broadcast agreements have been confirmed by MTV Networks International (MTVNI) for its music and movie awards programming. Malaysia’s 8TV and Singapore’s MediaCorp have both signed up for the MTV Movie Awards 2010, hosted by Aziz Ansari. …