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LONDON, January 22: Entertainment Rights has confirmed that it is in early takeover discussions, after having been approached by several private-equity firms. British press reports indicate that the company is being eyed by Haim Saban as well as by private …

LONDON, January 22: A new report released by British trade body Pact found that there was an overall decline in independent production opportunities throughout the U.K. between 2004 and 2006. Launched at the Salford TV Conference, Pact’s Production Trend Report …

TORONTO, January 22: Bravo! Canada will launch the hit British series Baby Ballroom, distributed by Granada International, on Saturday, February 16 at 8 p.m., with repeats featured Sundays at 6 p.m. The three-part, one-hour series is divided into two heats …

LONDON, January 22: Virgin Media Television (VMtv) has finalized an agreement with Sweden’s Intelligent Gaming Solutions (IGS) to bring a British version of the interactive game-show format BingoLotto to its channels Challenge and Virgin1. BingoLotto will be a live, weekly …

LOS ANGELES, January 22: National Lampoon has secured an output deal for eight feature films with Russian distributor Lizard Cinema Trade, including theatrical, home-video and broadcast rights. Under the terms of the deal—which National Lampoon’s president of worldwide distribution, Tom …

NEW YORK, January 22: BBC Worldwide Americas is heading to next week’s market in Las Vegas with a catalogue that includes dramas, comedies, sporting fare, formats, children’s series and science offerings. A new addition to the company’s format slate is …

TORONTO, January 21: CCI Entertainment has committed to a seven-picture production slate with various global partners, kicking off with the family movie Iron Road, scheduled for release in early 2009. Iron Road marks the first co-production between Canada and China …

TORONTO, January 21: 9 Story Entertainment has made its first foray into direct-to-video (DTV) production, securing the rights to Canadian author Joan Clark’s children’s book The Hand of Robin Squires, which will be developed and produced into an animated feature. …

MADRID, January 21: Imagina International Sales (ISS), the distribution arm of Spain’s IMAGINA Group, has created a new sales division dedicated to recently released films, to be helmed by former Sogepaq executive Beatriz Setuain. Setuain will head up the new …

SÃO PAULO, January 21: Record TV Network will arrive at NATPE with a lineup that includes telenovelas, series, documentaries and formats that have already performed well in their home market of Brazil. Record TV’s offer includes hits like the telenovela …