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LONDON: ITV Studios is making a £5 million investment in its Kirkstall Road studios in Leeds, to provide HD facilities for the production of the long-running soap Emmerdale. The Emmerdale production center is currently located on Burley Road, but due …

MONTREAL: Telefilm Canada is reporting a 21-percent increase in the revenues from the international distribution of Canadian TV and film projects at international markets where the organization leads a Canada Pavilion, such as MIPCOM and the Cannes Film Festival. According …

MUNICH: Brian Sullivan has been appointed as the new CEO of German pay-TV platform Sky Deutschland effective April 1, replacing Mark Williams, who is stepping down at the end of March for personal reasons. Sullivan is currently the managing director …

LONDON: Endemol has struck a deal for the hit Australian drama Packed to the Rafters to join the lineup of VOX Television in Germany. Produced by Seven Network Australia, Packed to the Rafters follows would-be empty-nesters whose family just can’t …

CULVER CITY: Sony Pictures Television is partnering with Korea’s Sunjin Entertainment to develop content for the local market, beginning with an adaptation of the scripted comedy The Nanny. SPT and Sunjin Entertainment will initially focus on producing content adapted from …

KNOXVILLE: Mark Burnett has signed on to produce season five of HGTV Design Star, one of the Scripps Networks-owned channel’s most popular titles. "The Mark Burnett team is extremely creative and talented—masters at crafting entertaining reality programming," said Freddy James, …

MIAMI: Split, a new teen-vampire daily drama, has been sold by Dori Media Group to Italian IPTV outfit Yam 1. Originally produced by Dori Media Darset for the VOD service of Israeli cable platform HOT, the series generated a total …

LONDON: BBC Worldwide has signed new deals in Spain for the animated series 3rd & Bird! to air on Playhouse Disney and Televisio de Catalunya. Playhouse Disney and Televisio de Catalunya have both secured the rights for all 50 10-minute …

TORONTO: Japan’s NHK has acquired the HD documentary Black Nation from Open Door, to air in January as part of its programming to mark the anniversary of U.S. president Barrack Obama’s first term in office. The documentary examines the state of black …

NEW YORK: HIT Entertainment has partnered with the preschool channel Sprout to launch a line of DVDs, Let’s Grow, which focus on life skills and lessons for 2- to 5-year-olds. Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release the first DVD in the …