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LONDON: Following its sister U.S. network’s lead, SCI FI channel in the U.K. is due to become Syfy in April, with the high-profile imports V and Human Target set to launch the rebrand. As part of a global rebrand, SCI …

LONDON: Self-made millionaire Hilary Devey will work to transform struggling small British companies in The Business Inspector, which Optomen will be producing for Five. Sponsored by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the 4×1-hour series will follow Devey as she works …

NEW YORK: Ahead of its March 1 debut, the new premium sports service Fox Soccer Plus has announced a raft of acquisitions of key soccer and rugby competitions. With the previously announced coverage of Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League …

EL SEGUNDO: DIRECTV reported a 13-percent increase in its fourth-quarter revenues to $5.98 billion as well as subscriber additions at its U.S. and Latin American operations, but has reported a $32 million net loss as a result of a $491 million pre-tax …

NEW YORK/LONDON: Estonia is the latest European country to launch both HISTORY and HISTORY HD, bringing the channels’ range of historical-based programming to the Elion platform. HISTORY and HISTORY HD launched on Elion on February 1. The channels offer a …

HAMILTON: Central European Media Enterprises (CME) has reached a deal to acquire the Bulgarian free-to-air commercial broadcaster bTV from News Corporation, as well as two sister cable networks and a stake in a radio company, for $400 million. The deal includes …

DENVER: Thought Equity Motion has been appointed as the exclusive licensing provider for raw footage from The New York Times video library, which producers, filmmakers and educators can now leverage in their own productions. The New York Times library includes …

BURBANK: Under the terms of a new agreement, Warner Horizon Television and Talpa Media will jointly develop new series for U.S. cable and broadcast networks based on reality and game-show formats created and owned by Talpa.  Warner Horizon has the …

PARIS: TF1’s 2009 revenues slipped 9 percent to 2.4 billion euros, with net profit for the group down 30 percent to 115 million euros, despite its ratings achievements in the year. The market-leading French broadcaster reported that ad revenues on …

LONDON: Sky1 HD has taken on the exclusive U.K. rights to the stop-motion animated series Glenn Martin, DDS, a prime-time comedy from Michael Eisner’s Tornante Animation. The series—developed for Nick at Nite in the U.S. by Michael Eisner, who co-created …