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LOS ANGELES: The American Film Market (AFM) will remain in Santa Monica through 2017, where it has been held since 1991. The international market event will continue to be held at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, with additional exhibition space continuing at JW Marriott’s Le Merigot Beach Hotel and …

LOS ANGELES: The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) has reached an agreement with the four major U.S. broadcasters on a new network TV code deal, which covers all programming except scripted prime-time shows. AFTRA members and ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX and other producers signed a three-year pact. …

LOS GATOS: Netflix is supporting a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would reform the Video Privacy Protection Act, which currently requires "video tape service providers" to obtain written consent before sharing a customer’s information. The new bill would allow consumers to give a one-time blanket consent …

LOS ANGELES: The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) have planned an unprecedented eight- or nine-day meeting to take place next month to discuss the details of a merger between the two unions. Called the Group for One Union, or G1, the groups …

BOSTON: Strategy Analytics projects that the market for connected-TV players will reach nearly 12 million units worldwide this year, with Apple accounting for 4 million of those devices. The report, Connected TV Players: Another Battlefield in the Smart TV War, predicts that the global sales for streaming- or Internet-TV set-top boxes will …

NEW YORK: Seasons one and two of the BBC puppet comedy series Mongrels is now available to U.S. audiences through Hulu and Hulu Plus. BBC Worldwide America and Hulu partnered to bring British comedy to the U.S., following the U.S. debut of the hit sci-fi series Misfits. Mongrels was created, …

NEW YORK: The accent for the 49th annual NATPE confab will be squarely on the “expanding eco-system” of content creation worldwide, and the fact that the television business, both in the U.S and abroad, is holding up considerably better than the fragile global economy would suggest. “In some ways we’re …

WASHINGTON D.C.: Time Warner, Viacom, Disney, News Corporation and Sony are among the entertainment, sports and media companies that have come together to lobby Congress to pass two different bills aimed at curbing online piracy. Dozens of entertainment companies jointly sent an open letter to Congress yesterday urging the passage …

LOS ANGELES: The comedy Modern Family garnered five nominations for the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG), while in drama, last year’s winner, Boardwalk Empire, had another strong showing. Modern Family won last year’s SAG Award for ensemble comedy, and this year it faces off in the category with 30 …

LOS ANGELES: Mark Burnett Productions is working with the technology firm ACTV8 to create customized second-screen experiences for upcoming TV shows to make programming more social. Viewers with an iPhone, iPad or Android device will be able to interact, socialize, consumer, share and participate in real time while watching their favorite …