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LONDON: Disney UK and LOVEFiLM are launching the branded SVOD service ABC TV On Demand in the U.K., delivering streaming access to shows such as Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Brothers & Sisters.  LOVEFiLM members with streaming packages can watch Castle and all six seasons of Lost starting this month. Coming ...

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LONDON: Sky has commissioned the sitcom Parents from Objective Productions for broadcast on Sky1 HD in the summer of 2012. The family sitcom will star Sally Phillips (Green Wing, Smack the Pony, Miranda) and Darren Strange (Phone Shop, The Armando Iannucci Shows) as a married couple with two teenagers, forced ...

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SARATOGA/LONDON: Roku, a platform that delivers online content to TV sets, has expanded into Europe and is offering its streaming players for purchase in the U.K. and Ireland. Roku’s best-selling U.S. models—Roku LT and Roku 2 XS—are available for pre-order at Amazon.co.uk. Roku currently feature more than 40 channels of ...

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PARIS: The TF1 Group has extended distribution for its thematic channels, including Eurosport and Histoire, through non-exclusive arrangements with Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, CanalSat and Numericable. The channels Eurosport, Eurosport 2, LCI, TV Breizh, Histoire and Ushuaïa TV were previously distributed in France on an exclusive basis. The new non-exclusive ...

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LONDON: The Australian production house Quail Television has made Jay Kandola, who previously led acquisitions for ITV, Channel 5 and Channel 4 in the U.K., its European manager, a newly created position in which she will serve on a consultancy basis. Kandola, appointed to spearhead Quail’s growth into the U.K. ...

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MUNICH/PARIS: StudioCanal has purchased a majority share in Tandem Communications, marking its first major move into the TV business. Tandem is behind such products as The Pillars of the Earth, Dune, The Company and Dragons’ World. On the Tandem slate for 2012 are World Without End, based on Ken Follett’s ...

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COPENHAGEN: Egmont has increased its ownership in TV 2 of Norway from 50 percent to 100 percent. Egmont will pay 2.1 billion NOK ($350.1 million) for the remaining 50-percent share that was previously owned by A-pressen. Egmont, which co-founded TV 2 in 1991, now owns 100 percent of Norway’s largest ...

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MAINZ: Having previously served as the sales manager for CEE and German-speaking territories at ZDF Enterprises, Ralf Rückauer has now been upped to head of sales. Rückauer is responsible for the sales of full-length programming. Rainer Hastrich, the director of ZDF.archive and contunico, and his team will continue to lead ...

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LONDON: Elisabeth Murdoch, the chairman of Shine Group, has signed on to deliver the keynote address at this year’s MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival. Murdoch will be the first woman to deliver the lecture since Janet Street-Porter in 1995. She is only the fourth woman since its inception in 1976. ...

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LOS GATOS: Netflix has made its official debut in the U.K. and Ireland, available for a monthly fee of £5.99 following a one month free trial. Neil Hunt, the chief product officer at Netflix, announced the launch yesterday. "I’m proud to have led the product team that brings Netflix to ...

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