Top Stories

BURBANK: ABC Family is is presenting the basic cable premiere of The Last Song, starring Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth, as part of a Nicholas Sparks marathon that also includes A Walk to Remember and The Notebook. The Last Song, about an estranged father and emotionally closed-off daughter who are trying …

BEVERLY HILLS: Cindy Holland is taking on the new role of VP of original content at Netflix, while Jason Ropell, the VP of content acquisition, takes charge of TV licensing for the U.S. market. Holland has been with Netflix for ten years. The new post sees her taking on responsibility …

LOS ANGELES: Rod Perth has become the new president and CEO of NATPE, effective today. Perth previously founded RHP Media Consulting, where he served as president. He also co-founded and was president of television for the ReelzChannel TV network. He held previously positions as the president of Jim Henson Television Worldwide …

SEATTLE: Paramount Pictures is bringing hundreds of movies from its library to Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service in the U.S. over the next three years. Films such as Mission: Impossible 3, Braveheart, Forrest Gump, Mean Girls and Clueless will soon be available to Amazon Prime members with unlimited streaming. The …

LOS ANGELES: Based on ratings through Sunday, CBS has declared itself the winner of the 2011-2012 season among all viewers, while FOX, thanks to American Idol, has retained its spot as the number one network among viewers 18 to 49. CBS says it also tops the 25 to 54 rankings, and …

ATLANTA: Facebook has signed up to help distribute and promote the new branded digital comedy shorts from DumbDumb as part of a deal with TBS. Previously, Turner and Electus struck a pact for DumbDumb to produce up to six short-form comedy videos for TBS.com that feature a sponsor’s brand integration. …

SARATOGA/ENGLEWOOD: Bringing more than 50 international programming channels to its lineup, the Roku streaming platform has added DISHWorld as part of its offerings. The DISHWorld service includes leading Hindi, Arabic, Urdu, Bangla and Brazilian channels. It offers a variety of foreign-language programming, including sports, movies, news, children’s programs, music, cooking …

BOSTON: Olympusat, which represents 25 TV networks serving the Hispanic, Specialty and Faith & Family markets, has hired two new executives to drive its distribution efforts in Latin America and the U.S. Francisco Sibauste joins as the VP of distribution and sales for Latin America. Nick Febrizio has been hired …

ENGLEWOOD: DISH has filed suit against ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC in federal court seeking a declaration of legality regarding its AutoHop feature, which allows subscribers to automatically skip advertisements. DISH is asking the court for a declaratory judgement on whether or not the AdHop feature infringes any copyrights that …

NEW YORK: TV Land has ordered cast-contingent pilots for a pair of original sitcoms, I’m Not Dead Yet from Ben Silverman’s Electus and Brothers-in-Law, executive produced by Scott Stuber. I’m Not Dead Yet is being adapted from the DBS-produced Israeli format Zanzuri. It is written by Jon Sherman (Frasier) with …