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NEW YORK: Former MTV executive Brooke Posch is joining Comedy Central as its VP of original programming and development for the East Coast. Reporting to Kent Alterman, the head of original programming and development, Posch will oversee development and production of all East Coast-based original series and pilots for the cable network. …

EL SEGUNDO: With its current content chief, Derek Chang, leaving at the end of the year, DIRECTV has tapped former AT&T executive Dan York to join the platform this summer as executive VP of programming and chief content officer. As executive VP of content strategy and development for the last six …

NEW YORK: More than 13.9 million people tuned in to HISTORY on Monday for the premiere of the mini-series Hatfields & McCoys, making it the number one non-sports broadcast in ad-supported cable history. The 3×2-hour show tells the true story of a legendary family feud. It stars Kevin Costner and Bill …

ALBUQUERQUE: On the heels of announcing the addition of World Without End and XII to its slate, ReelzChannel has unveiled three more originals: the period mini-series Barabbas, the reality show Beverly Hills Pawn and the Canadian drama Bomb Girls. Barabbas, to be shot on location in Tunisia, is based on …

SANTA MONICA/VANCOUVER: Due in part to costs associated with its acquisition of Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate recorded a fourth-quarter net loss of $22.7 million on improved revenues, boosted by The Hunger Games and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, of $645.2 million. The independent studio’s revenues rose 71 percent as …

NEW YORK: Todd Whiting has been named senior VP of NBCUniversal Cable & New Media Distribution, upped from his VP role. Whiting will continue to work closely with Frances Manfredi, the president of NBCUniversal Cable & New Media Distribution to secure digital content licensing for shows and SVOD deals for …

EL SEGUNDO: In 2011, U.S. households decreased their spending on physical media purchases and rentals at a double-digit rate, according to new data from IHS. Average spending on physical media in U.S. video households that own either a DVD or Blu-ray Disk player fell to $133.31 in 2001, down 11 …

EL SEGUNDO: Research firm IHS says that Netflix is now the largest online movie service in the U.S. in terms of revenues, taking a 44-percent share of the market in 2011, as compared with Apple’s 32.3 percent. The IHS Screen Digest Broadband Media Market Insight Report indicates that Netflix’s share of …

LOS ANGELES: Content Television has taken on the worldwide distribution rights for the newest feature film from Harmony Gold, entitled I Love Your Moves. The story follows a 17-year-old boy who just moved to America from Russia and is living with his mother and grandfather. He falls in love with …

STAMFORD: Patrick Talty is taking over the senior VP role for live events at WWE. Talty joins from Global Spectrum, a subsidiary of Comcast-Spectator, having served as general manager. In his new post at WWE, Talty will be managing more than 300 live global events per year. He will report …