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LOS ANGELES, August 24: New Mexico’s attorney general has reopened an investigation into CBS’s new reality show Kid Nation over allegations that the series violated child-labor laws. The series was shot in New Mexico, where 40 kids between the ages …

LOS ANGELES, August 24: A comedy writer has filed suit against The Walt Disney Company, maintaining that he came up with the premise for the Disney Channel tween hit Hannah Montana. The AP reports that Buddy Sheffield, whose writing credits …

LONDON, August 23: According to the results of the annual Communications Market Report from the British regulator Ofcom, time spent daily watching television among British consumers has declined by 4 percent to 3 hours and 36 minutes, with television advertising …

LONDON, August 23: Sony Pictures Television International has licensed the exclusive U.K. rights for Viva Laughlin, the CBS version of the BBC’s Viva Blackpool, to Virgin Media Television-owned entertainment channel LIVING. The 22×1-hour series stars Briton Lloyd Owen (Monarch of …

BURBANK, August 23: NBC and Mark Burnett Productions have teamed up for Amne$ia, a new quiz show where contestants are challenged to answer tough questions about their own life for money and prizes. The series will premiere on NBC later …

LONDON, August 23: Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) will launch two new channels in Africa later this year on MultiChoice’s digital pay-TV satellite platform: the general family entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television (SET) and the anime channel Animax. SET and …

NEW YORK, August 23: This September, the Saturday morning kids’ block on CBS relaunches as KEWLopolis on CBS with content from DIC Entertainment and American Greetings Properties (AGP). Premiering on Saturday, September 15, the three-hour programming block (currently airing as …

LOS ANGELES, August 23: Lifetime has ordered production on The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, a new original movie based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Kim Edwards, for premiere in 2008. Emmy-nominated director Mick Jackson (Live from Baghdad, …

LONDON, August 23: Fox International Channels has acquired the Australian police drama series Water Rats for FX in the U.K. from Southern Star International. The 177×1-hour drama series, set in Sydney, is a high-suspense, fast-moving look into the workings of …

LOS ANGELES, August 23: Program Partners and Merv Griffin Entertainment (MGE) have cleared the daytime game show Merv Griffin’s Crosswords for fall syndication in more than 90 percent of the U.S. for the 2007-08 season. Scheduled to premiere on September …