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Showtime Touts ‘Tudors’ Premiere via YouTube

Showtime is putting the second-season premiere episode of its series “The Tudors” on YouTube, starting tomorrow. The episode doesn’t air on Showtime until Sunday. The move is part of Showtime’s digital push to introduce people to the show and persuade…

Timberlake to Host ESPYs

ESPN has tapped Justin Timberlake for hosting duties at the 16th annual ESPY Awards, which will be presented this year at the new Nokia Theater L.A. Live in Los Angeles. The annual awards ceremony, which honors the best in athletic…

Comedy Central Picks Up News, Reality Spoofs

Comedy Central is bringing David Alan Grier’s brand of spoofery back to TV. The former “In Living Color” star will executive produce and star in “David Alan Grier’s Chocolate News,” a newsmagazine sendup. Also executive producing are Robert Morton (“Mind…

FremantleMedia to Rep Travel Channel’s Original Programming

The Travel Channel’s original programming will now be distributed exclusively through FremantleMedia. The multiyear partnership announced Wednesday gives FME access to a catalogue of more than 200 hours of Travel Channel content, including “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” “Bizarre Foods With…

Hallmark Boosts Ratings, Buys ‘Girls’

The Hallmark Channel will finish seventh in ratings among ad-supported cable channels, Television Week reports, citing Henry Schleiff, CEO of Hallmark parent Crown Media. Hallmark, which will produce 30 original movies this year, also acquired rights to “The Golden Girls,”…

USA’s Wachtel Wants ‘High-Concept’

USA Network programming chief Jeff Wachtel said the cable-ratings leader wants more shows with “high-concept characters,” and is planning to order at least three pilots by the summer, Daily Variety reports. By adding more original programming, the NBC Universal-owned channel…

Dish Faces Big Bill to Go On Demand

Dish Network’s $711 million purchase of airwaves in a government auction may be insufficient to cover on-demand services for the entire U.S., the Wall Street Journal reports. To use the spectrum to compete with on-demand services offered by cable operators,…

Trump Makes a ‘Lady’ for MTV

MTV ordered eight episodes of a reality show produced by Donald Trump’s production company and RDF USA that features young women being given a bunch of challenges after being sent to boarding school, Daily Variety reports. The untitled series is…

USA Wants Game Site to Boost Ads

USA Network renamed its gaming Web site “Character Arcade,” which will feature 20 new games that reference characters from the network’s shows, Multichannel News reports. USA will use the site, which attracts 30 million page views a month, to boost…

Comedy Central Launches ‘Park’ Site

Comedy Central and “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker launched a Web site that will allow users to legally download episodes from all 12 seasons of the animated series, Multichannel News reports. The site will also have behind-the-scenes…