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BURBANK, December 10: Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation have joined forces on a new 26-episode, CG-animated comedy series, tentatively titled The Penguins of Madagascar, which is scheduled to premiere on Nickelodeon in early 2009. The new series, based on DreamWorks Animation’s …

NEW YORK, December 10: VH1 will premiere !Viva Hollywood!, a new reality competition series that chronicles the search for America’s next Latin telenovela star. Hosted by actress and singer Maria Conchita Alonso and actor singer/song-writer Carlos Ponce, the new series …

LONDON, December 10: FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has announced its lineup for NATPE this year, which includes a range of drama, cookery and music programming, highlighted by the new Australian drama series Satisfaction. Created by Australian producer Roger Simpson (Stingers, Halifax …

SINGAPORE, December 10: ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) has launched STAR Sports Mobile for the Asian market, which includes exclusive video highlights from Arsenal and Liverpool Football Club and STAR Sports original programming. STAR Sports Mobile content will feature exclusive goal …

TEL AVIV, December 10: Nir Erlich and Sefi Vigiser, the cofounders of the instant messaging platform ICQ, have announced the launch for alpha testers of Knocka TV, an Internet television network for both user-generated and professional content. Knocka (www.knocka.tv) is …

SAN DIEGO, December 10: Lifestyle and entertainment network WealthTV has reached an agreement with Verizon FiOS TV to make its high-definition programming available on-demand in several new markets. WealthTV will begin its HD VOD rollout in the metro areas of …

LOS ANGELES, December 10: Lifetime Networks has named Stephen Bulka as its VP of original movies, effective immediately. Bulka will report to Tanya Lopez, Lifetime Networks’ senior VP of original movies. Based in Los Angeles, Bulka will be responsible for …

RIO DE JANEIRO, December 10: Globo TV International has named Marcelo Mattar as the new international sales manager for Western Europe. In his new role, Mattar will oversee strategic management for the region, including content negotiations for all platforms of …

WASHINGTON D.C./NEW YORK, December 10: Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, has appointed Aura Kenny Dunn as assistant VP for government affairs. Dunn will manage Sesame Workshop’s government relations efforts and advance the organization’s visibility in federal policy …

GUTERSLOH, December 10: According to a report in today’s Financial Times, Bertelsmann is looking at selling off part of its Direct Group division, which includes its book and music club businesses. Direct Group Bertelsmann comprises the worldwide book and music …