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LOS ANGELES, December 20: U.S. Hispanic network Azteca America has expanded into its 61st market, inking an affiliate deal in Columbus, Ohio. "Announcing a strong affiliate in the Columbus market is a great way to finish out 2007, which has …

LONDON/MOSCOW, December 20: Disney-ABC International Television has finalized a multi-year entertainment licensing agreement with Russian state broadcaster Channel One. The deal covers the licensing of features, live-action series, animated series and made-for-TV movies, as well as the launch of a …

LONDON, December 20: In an effort to ramp up its output of original dramas for teen viewers, BBC Drama is inviting a range of in-house and independent production companies to pitch two new young-skewing series that will be broadcast on …

NEW YORK, December 20: VH1 Classic and the CBS News series 60 Minutes have teamed up to launch Classic 60 Minutes, a series drawn from the news-magazine’s video archives that will feature interviews with music legends. The series will air …

SANTA MONICA, December 20: The finale of MTV’s A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila became the highest-rated series telecast on the network for 2007, with casting now underway for a spin-off, That’s Amore!, starring a fan-favorite contestant, Domenico Nesci. …

SÃO PAULO, December 20: Fox International Channels (FIC) has begun production in São Paulo, Brazil, on 9 mm: São Paulo, its first original series in Latin America. 9 mm: São Paulo will be broadcast throughout Latin America in the first …

LONDON, December 20: Entertainment Rights (ER) announced that the BBC has commissioned The Foundation, part of the U.K.’s RDF Media Group, to produce Basil’s Swap Shop, a new live studio-based kids’ series for the CBBC’s Saturday morning schedule. The series …

LONDON, December 20: The male-skewing British channel Dave, re-launched from UKTV G2 in October, has inked a three-year agreement with International Sportsworld Communicators (ISC) for the U.K. broadcast rights to the World Rally Championships (WRC). The agreement brings the WRC, …

LOS ANGELES, December 19: Peter Jackson, along with the chiefs of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios and New Line Cinema, have announced plans to produce two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit. Under the agreement, MGM and New Line will …

BOSTON, December 19: According to research firm Strategy Analytics, there will be more than 1 billion broadband users worldwide by the end of 2008, led by the Asia Pacific. “The upcoming year will mark an important milestone in broadband adoption,” …