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LOS ANGELES: Scott Kirkpatrick has been promoted to director of international sales at the men’s entertainment production-distribution outfit Bennett Media Worldwide. Kirkpatrick takes over the sales responsibilities and clients of Matthew Mancinelli, who will be leaving Bennett on July 24 …

TEL AVIV: Dori Media Group has clinched a deal with Israeli platform YES to extend carriage of the novela channels VIVA and VIVA Platina until the end of 2013. VIVA is included on YES’s basic package while VIVA Platina is …

BURBANK: The new one-hour series Shaq Vs., debuting on ABC August 18, will feature NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal competing against other top athletes in a range of sporting events. Each week Shaq will test his athletic prowess off the basketball …

LOS ANGELES: A sophomore season of the hit multiplatform series Deadliest Warrior is set for a spring 2010 debut on Spike TV, with 13 new episodes featuring history’s most lethal combatants. Airing at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays, the first season of …

LONDON: MTV Networks International (MTVNI) has firmed up several deals on its slate of music awards shows, as well as for a host of Nickelodeon programming. Malaysia’s TV8 picked up the MTV Movie Awards 2009, while CCTV3 in China licensed …

LONDON: The U.K.’s five main public-service broadcasters spent £2.6 billion on original British programs in 2008, according to media regulator Ofcom, down by 15 percent on the amount spent in 2004.   Overall network programming spending for BBC One, BBC …

LOS ANGELES: TMNT Productions has signed screenwriter John Fusco to create the script for the new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles motion picture, slated for a 2011 theatrical release. Fusco’s credits include the original Young Guns and its sequel, as …

LONDON: Big Bocca Productions’ action-adventure property Huntik: Secrets & Seekers takes a Monday through Friday slot on CITV in the U.K. this summer, and will come back in the fall for a rerun. CITV launched the series yesterday, and a …

LONDON: Kindle Entertainment has been commissioned to produce a second season of the preschool series Big and Small for CBeebies, and Lenny Henry has re-signed to voice both characters. Big and Small is a co-production between Kindle and the 3J’s …

VANCOUVER: The Canadian government has embarked on a nationwide consultation on attitudes towards copyright protection in the digital world. Unveiled by Tony Clement, the Minister of Industry, and the James Moore, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, the …