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NEW YORK, December 5: CBS has announced that Criminal Minds will air in the much-coveted post-Super Bowl slot on Sunday, February 4. This year, the annual football event on ABC propelled Grey’s Anatomy, broadcast after a post-game wrap-up, to record …

OTTAWA, December 5: Brazil’s Mundial Filmes has licensed the DVD rights to three kids series from Amberwood Productions. The deal covers Hoze Houndz, a 78×30-minute show for Canada’s Family Channel; The Secret World of Benjamin Bear, the 39×30-minute preschool series …

LONDON, December 5: According to ZenithOptimedia, global television advertising will rise to $184.5 billion in 2009, from this year’s $160.4 billion, while its share of total ad spend will fall from this year’s 37.8 percent to 37.2 percent in 2009. …

EKATERINBURG, December 5: Russian distributor Studio 7 has licensed two titles from Off the Fence to Kultura. The deal covers Equator, an award-winning six-part co-production of NHNZ, NHK, France 5, ORF and ZDF, in association with Discovery HD Theater; and …

LONDON, December 5: ESPN is looking to expand its European presence with the acquisition of the North American Sports Network (NASN), which delivers coverage of American sporting events across Europe, from Setanta Sport Holdings and Benchmark Capital Europe. NASN reaches …

PARIS, December 5: TF1 has acquired a 33.5-percent stake in French channel operator and distribution outfit the AB Group for 230 million euros. Claude Berda who owns the remaining 66.5 percent interest, will remain chairman of the company, which owns …

NEW YORK, December 5: The creative and management teams of the preschool services Noggin and Nick Jr. are being combined under the Nickelodeon Preschool umbrella, it was announced today. The new preschool team will be led by Brown Johnson, who …

LOS ANGELES, December 5: Producer Joseph Medawar has been sentenced to a year in prison after taking millions of dollars from people who believed he was producing a government-backed drama about the Department of Homeland Security. Charges were filed against …

LOS ANGELES, December 5: Bob Pittman, former COO of the then AOL Time Warner, has joined the board of directors of Spot Runner, the Internet-based advertising agency. Since leaving Time Warner in 2002 after the AOL merger, Pittman founded an …

TORONTO, December 5: Titanic’s James Cameron has re-teamed with Simcha Jacobovici, with whom he worked on The Exodus Decoded, for the Biblical docudrama The Tomb for Discovery Channel in the U.S. and VisionTV in Canada. Production recently wrapped on the …