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LONDON, December 17: The new 13-part thriller Defying Gravity, starring Ron Livingston of The Time Traveler's Wife, begins filming in Canada in January for broadcast on BBC Two later next year. The new adventure drama series is from creator and …

NEW YORK, December 17: Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films has signed a deal to develop and produce programming for HBO, including mini-series, movies, documentaries and series. "This is the perfect partnership for Harpo Films," said Winfrey in a statement. "Oprah personifies …

LONDON/ATHENS, December 17: Guillaume de Posch, the outgoing CEO of ProSiebenSat.1, has signed on as an advisor to the Greek media group Antenna TV, which is eyeing acquisitions in the region. With its sale of Bulgaria's Nova TV to Modern …

ALVISO, December 17: Among users of the TiVo DVR, at least half of the viewership for U.S. network series premieres this fall was on a timeshifted basis, according to data from the company's Stop||Watch ratings service. Of the seven new …

MOSCOW/BURBANK, December 17: The Walt Disney Company is launching a branded free-to-air channel in Russia as part of a joint venture with the local broadcasting company Media-One Holdings. The family-oriented entertainment channel will be carried on 30 stations owned and …

LONDON, December 17: Free-to-air digital terrestrial TV in Europe will be least affected by the global economic downturn, according to new 2009 forecasts from research firm Screen Digest. Surveying the impact of the recession on Europe's media markets, the research …

LONDON, December 17: As Disney-ABC-ESPN Television's VP of channel distribution for EMEA (South), Kakhaber Abashidze will lead a team in charge of Southern Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, CIS countries and the Middle East and Africa. Abashidze will work …

HARRINGTON PARK, December 17: dick clark productions has appointed Alfred Haber Distribution, Inc. as the exclusive international distributor for the 2009 American Music Awards, which will air in November 2009. This marks the 18th year that Alfred Haber Distribution has …

SAN FRANCISCO, December 17: The Independent Television Service (ITVS) has selected five projects from its recently completed ITVS International Call 2008 for funding, with two more expected to be announced shortly. The films set to receive production funding were selected …

LOS ANGELES, December 17: Househusbands of Hollywood has been given the go-ahead by Fox Reality Channel for nine hour-long episodes, slated to premiere in August 2009. The original series looks at Hollywood families in which the wives are the ones …