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WASHINGTON, February 13: Steven Spielberg is ending his stint as artistic advisor for the opening and closing ceremonies of this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, after failed attempts to convince the Chinese government to play a greater role in ending …

JAKARTA/NEW YORK, February 13: A new children’s series from Sesame Workshop, titled Jalan Sesama, will premiere next week on the Indonesian channel Trans7. Produced by nonprofit educational organization Sesame Workshop in association with Jakarta-based Creative Indigo Production, Jalan Sesama features …

LOS ANGELES, February 13: Joel Surnow, the executive producer and co-creator of FOX’s 24, is leaving the Emmy Award-winning drama ahead of his contract expiring in April. According to published reports, Surnow is taking advantage of the series’ postponement—a result …

NEW YORK/ATLANTA, February 13: Independent children’s animation producer Animation Collective has licensed its preschool series Ellen’s Acres to Boomerang Latin America. The 52×11-minute comedy features a 5-year-old girl named Ellen, her feather duster, her radial tire, the hotel she owns …

REDMOND, February 13: Microsoft Corporation has released the results of a new online survey that found American teenagers between 7th and 10th grades are less likely to illegally download content from the Internet when they know the laws for downloading …

TORONTO, February 13: Canadian production outfit Fresh TV is in development with TELETOON Canada and Nelvana, with a grant from the Canadian Television Fund, to develop a live-action feature film based on the hit series 6Teen. Tom McGillis and Jennifer …

EL SEGUNDO, February 13: Fourth quarter revenues at The DIRECTV Group rose 17-percent on the year-ago period to reach $4.88 billion, but net income for the period dropped 2 percent to $348 million. Operating profit before depreciation and amortization, meanwhile, …

TORONTO, February 13: Shaftesbury Films has begun production on a new half-hour teen comedy series, titled Overruled!, which is scheduled to air later this year on Family Channel in Canada. Overruled! follows the trials of Jared “Coop” Cooper, a 15-year-old …

SUNNYVALE/CAMBRIDGE, February 13: Yahoo! has paid $160 million for the acquisition of Maven Networks, an online video platform provider that the Internet giant hopes to exploit for the expansion of its consumer video and advertising services. Together, Yahoo! and Maven …

BEVERLY HILLS, February 13: Animation and entertainment outfit W!LDBRAIN has kicked off a multi-million dollar licensing program for its children series Yo Gabba Gabba!, and has signed partners to create and distribute a wide range of merchandise slated to hit …