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PARIS: Elisabeth Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of the Shine Group, and Joanna Shields, the former CEO of Bebo and president of AOL’s social media and communications businesses, will deliver a joint MIP Digital Keynote on the Tuesday of MIPTV. …

JAKARTA: Indonesian media conglomerate PT Media Nusantara Citra (MNC), which operates the leading terrestrials RCTI and TPI, has agreed to a multiyear program licensing deal with Disney-ABC International Television (DAIT) Asia Pacific covering series and original movies for kids and family audiences. …

TORONTO: William Shatner, best known from his role as Captain Kirk from the original Star Trek, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Banff World Television Festival. Shatner’s career spans more than five decades. He has served as …

TORONTO: The new 13-episode docu-drama The Cupcake Girls, which follows two women who are childhood best friends and business partners in a cupcake company, will launch on Canada’s W Network on April 4 with two back-to-back episodes. Heather White and …

LONGWOOD: The Television Syndication Company (TVS) has picked up the U.S. syndication rights for the DIY home-improvement series Ron Hazelton’s HouseCalls, previously distributed by MGM. The 22×30-minute series is currently in its 11th year in syndication and is cleared in …

NEW YORK: Comedy Central has greenlit the new half-hour weekly scripted series Workaholics from Avalon Television and Gigapix Studios. The 10-episode comedy, set to premiere this summer, follows three unmotivated roommates who graduate from college and enter the real world. …

NEW YORK: Sesame Workshop has signed up a host of top-name celebrities, including How I Met Your Mother‘s Neil Patrick Harris and Grey’s Anatomy‘s Sandra Oh, as well as a number of industry experts and opinion-makers for the Grand Prize …

LONDON: ITV plc reported a pre-tax profit of £25 million for 2009, as compared with its 2008 loss of £2.7 billion, on revenues that were down by 7 percent to £1.9 billion. The company attributed the improved results in part …

TORONTO: Shaftesbury Films and Canada’s Family Channel have announced a new half-hour teen comedy series, Baxter, which will air later this year. Filming for the first 13 episodes runs until March 26. The live-action comedy follows Baxter McNab (Evan Williams, …

SYDNEY: Turner International Australia has hired Melissa Fitzgerald to serve as its sales director for Australia and New Zealand, effective April 6. Based at the company’s Sydney office, Fitzgerald will oversee the development of Turner’s advertising sales strategies for the …