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LOS ANGELES: Castalia Communications has signed a deal to distribute the Peruvian channel Perú Mágico—operated by Telefónica’s Media Networks Latin America—in the U.S. and North America. The channel is made up of programming from three of Peru’s leading pay-TV services—Plus TV, …

NEW YORK: Carl Icahn has extended the deadline on his $7-per share offer for Lionsgate stock until 8 p.m. New York time on May 21, after less than 6.5 percent of outstanding shares were tendered as of yesterday. In a statement …

NEW YORK: The newly created post of senior VP of fiction for the sales and distribution division at BBC Worldwide is to be filled by Paul Davis-Miller. Davis-Miller is the second appointment to the sales and distribution team. He joins …

NEW YORK: A majority of viewers of live TV—86 percent—will sit through commercials versus changing channels or leaving the room, according to the Video Consumer Mapping (VCM) study sponsored by the Council for Research Excellence (CRE). The report notes that 11 …

NEW YORK: Kevin Gillis, CEO and executive producer of Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group, discusses the slate of kids’ properties the recently founded Toronto-based company is developing for the worldwide market in this video interview.   Starting up a new company …

MONTEREY: The number of cable-TV subscribers in the U.S. fell last year, according to SNL Kagan, while the number of satellite and telco customers increased. SNL Kagan, in partnership with MediaBiz, reports that the overall multichannel video market expanded from 97 million …

STOCKHOLM: Norwegian-based telco Telenor Group has become TV4 Group’s partner in C More Entertainment, picking up a 35-percent stake in the Nordic premium channel operator. C More Entertainment operates a suite of 14 premium film, series and sports channels under …

LOS ANGELES: Syfy has reached a deal with ITV Studios to develop a one-hour scripted series pilot based on the late 1960s British detective series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Josh Bycel (Scrubs) and Jonathan Fener (American Dad) will write and executive produce …

LONDON: Production is under way on Sky1 HD’s second Mark Billingham adaptation, Thorne: Scaredy Cat, with Grey’s Anatomy‘s Sandra Oh to star in the series alongside David Morrissey. The first adaptation, Thorne: Sleepyhead, finished production in April and is slated …

LOS ANGELES: Fox International Channels is launching a dedicated U.S. feed for its Spanish-language lifestyle network Utilisima. The channel’s international feed has been available in the U.S. for years, but Utilisima is now ramping up its original productions for a …