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STOCKHOLM: Viasat Broadcasting and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have entered into a multi-year pay-TV partnership that delivers season-long coverage of the league’s events in Russia, the CIS and Georgia on the Viasat Sport East channel. Viasat Sport East will air up to five regular season games per week as …

PREMIUM: The top of the audience charts was a mixed bag on Saturday, December 15, with light entertainment, contests and feature films faring well. Audience levels were not high relative to other nights of the week. TF1 pulled the biggest audience in France with long-running light entertainment show Les enfants …

LONDON: In the wake of a major reorganization at BBC Worldwide, Steve Macallister, the president and managing director of sales and distribution, has decided to leave the company in the spring. Macallister joined the company in 2007 and has led the sales and distribution department to record growth. He will continue …

ENGLEWOOD: Liberty Global is sticking with its previous bid of 35 euros ($46.10) per share for the stake it does not already own of Telenet Group Holding, totaling $2.5 billion, despite the Belgian telecom company having a higher assessment of its current value. Liberty Global is currently a majority shareholder …

LONDON: Of the top 50 most-watched shows on Channel 4 in 2012, 37 of them, or 74 percent, were new commissions, among them The Undateables, Derek and Stephen Fry: Gadget Man. Of the top 30 programs of the year on Channel 4, 22 of them, or 77 percent, were new …

LONDON: BT Sport has chosen Sunset+Vine to produce its live coverage of Premier League football matches, signing a contract worth £100 million. Sunset+Vine, part of the Tinopolis group, was behind Channel 4’s London 2012 Paralympics coverage. It also produces ESPN’s Premiership rugby. Sunset+Vine will produce BT’s live rugby union Aviva …

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group has completed its acquisition of the remaining 49-percent stake in the Danish joint-venture company TV 2 Sport from TV 2 Denmark. The transaction received the necessary regulatory approval from the Danish Competition Authority. Part of the pact includes the transfer of the exclusive Danish broadcast rights to …

WARSAW: Atmedia has established a new TV viewing measurement tool for Poland, SpotLight, in cooperation with UPC Polska and Nielsen. The new TV ratings survey will be the largest in Poland and one of the largest in Europe. The service will provide minute-by-minute monitoring of viewer behavior from more than 12,000 Polish …

LUXEMBOURG: Frank Hoffmann has been named managing director of RTL Television, while Bernd Reichart, currently the managing director for multichannel at Grupo Antena 3, succeeds him as managing director of Vox. Hoffmann’s move from Vox to RTL Television takes place February 1, 2013. He has been the MD of Vox since …

LONDON: BBC Four has placed an order for Bob Servant Independent, a new comedy series starring Brian Cox, which is slated to premiere in the new year. Bob Servant Independent focuses on a man named Bob Servant who is running for office in the Scottish town of Broughty Ferry. Jonathan Watson, …