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HILVERSUM: Following Endemol’s acquisition of Southern Star, Cathy Payne has been tapped to head up the combined program-distribution business, overseeing a catalogue of some 2,000 formats and 20,000 hours of content.  Payne, previously CEO of Southern Star International, will now serve …

NEW YORK/LONDON: The online video service Joost has signed up 12 new content partners to add to its programming library, among them Marvel Entertainment. Atlas Media will launch the original travel series Mysterious Places from its Atlas Digital division on …

BANFF: A new study reveals that Canadian children’s and youth content production fell to a ten-year low of C$257 million in 2007/08, after peaking at C$389 million in 1999/00. Canada’s reputation as a world leader in the production of quality kids’ …

SAN DIEGO: FLO TV is set to expand its live mobile TV service across the U.S. following the analogue switch-off on June 12, with a view to reaching more than 200 million potential customers by year’s end. The digital TV transition this month …

LONDON: urFANtastic, a new online community that features user-generated content from music fans, has been jointly developed by digital outfit All-Leo and FMX, FremantleMedia’s central new-media division. urFANtastic centers around a community of fans competing with each other by paying …

BURBANK: A third season of the hit animated series Phineas and Ferb is on order from Disney Channels Worldwide. Created and executive produced by Dan Povenmire (Family Guy) and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (The Simpsons, Rocko’s Modern Life), the series follows …

HONG KONG: Disney-ABC International Television (DAIT) in the Asia Pacific is bringing together its channel and program distribution businesses under the leadership of senior VP and managing director for the region, Rob Gilby. DAIT Asia Pacific will now include a newly …

BURBANK: ABC has announced the premiere dates for its 2009-10 season, kicking things off on September 21 with a two-hour Dancing with the Stars, followed by the return of Castle. The hit dance competition takes the Monday 8 p.m. to …

LOS ANGELES: The members of the Screen Actors Guild have voted to accept a new two-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) by a 78-percent margin. The contract, more than a year in the making, took …

NEW YORK: Academy Award-winner Kathy Bates headlines the cast of the new four-hour movie event Alice, a co-production from Reunion Pictures and Studio Eight distributed by RHI Entertainment, set to premiere on SCI FI Channel in December. Bates (Misery) stars as …