VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW

PROGRAMMING
After 18 seasons on MTV, The Real World is finally going Down Under. The 19th edition of the reality series will be filmed in Sydney. The Australian season will be the third time that MTV has taken its cast of "seven strangers picked to live in a house" to an international locale. The show's fourth season was filmed in London, and its 13th was in Paris. Both fared poorly with viewers.
E! Online

Coronation Street star Tupele Dorgu beat the vote last night to retain her place on ITV's Soapstar Superstar. Dorgu and Emmerdale Farms's Verity Rushworth were both on the chopping block during the singing competition, but Dorgu got the most votes overnight. The nine-day talent show pitches nine soap stars against each other, singing songs voted for by the viewers. One gets kicked off each night.
Manchester Evening News

Steve Irwin's final days -- but not final moments -- will soon be hitting the airwaves. The Discovery Channel has set a January 21 airdate for Ocean's Deadliest , the wildlife documentary Irwin was working on when he was killed last fall when a stingray pierced his heart. Footage in the special was recorded in the weeks leading up to his death, but nothing shot the day of his fatal accident will be used.
E! Online

BUSINESS
Israel's HOT cable merger is finally complete. The country's three cable companies -- Matav Cable Systems Media Ltd., Television Holdings (Tevel) and Golden Channels -- inked the final merger agreement after the cable companies' controlling shareholders and the banks reached a financing settlement. The companies will receive NIS 3.95 billion, which will be divided into several credit arrangements, and will replace the existing frameworks for each company. In addition, NIS 755 million has been designated to finance the company's investments.
TMCnet

Just before signing a deal with SkyB, the company which owns the Aakaash Bangla satellite channel, SPS Arts & Entertainment has announced that four mega serials will be aired on the channel starting on February 12. The shows, Andarmahal, Bijoynee, Prabahini Ei Samay and Shanai will all air during primetime. Only a month ago, SPS Arts & Entertainment, which is part of the Rs 1,700-crore SPS Group of Companies, entered into a joint venture agreement with SkyB. The profit-sharing deal takes effect in February.
The Hindu

China's cartoon industry produced more than 81,000 minutes of animation this year, almost double last year's 42,700 minutes, according to an official with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) at a meeting to mark the 80th anniversary of China's cartoon production. The country produced more than 50,000 minutes of cartoons from January to August alone, topping last year's total. About 5,473 animation studios had been founded in China by October 2006.
Xinhua

AWARDS SHOWS
Film industry veterans have identified a new crop of rising stars, including Perfume's Ben Whishaw, The Wind That Shakes the Barley's Cillian Murphy and Bond girl Eva Green. Each will face a public vote to decide who will win a special award honoring emerging talent at the British Academy of Film Awards (BAFTA) in February. In addition to Whishaw, Murphy and Green, Naomie Harris, who first attracted attention in 28 Days Later, and Emily Blunt, who stole the movie in The Devil Wears Prada will also be in contention.
The Independent

FILM
Last year, Clint Eastwood was presented with the Director's Guild of America's (DGA) Lifetime Achievement Award. This year, Dirty Harry got snubbed. When DGA unveiled its list of nominees for Best Director, Eastwood's name was nowhere to be found. Instead, Martin Scorcese ( The Departed), Bill Condon (Dreamgirls), Stephen Frears (The Queen), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel) and tag-team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) made the cut. The DGA winner will be revealed on February 3.
E! Online

VIDEOAGE AT NATPE '07 FOR YOU
Our NATPE Issue will feature a front cover story on Argentina's powerhouse Telefé.
This issue focuses on Latin America and will have a section in Spanish.
In addition, it will feature Starz, one of the U.S's major TV brands (it operates 16 channels) and production companies.
At NATPE VideoAge will also have its traditional three dailies:
Monday -- Focus on Latin America
Tuesday -- U.S. Syndication (both Anglo and Spanish)
Wednesday -- Focus on Canada, U.K.
Let us know if we could interest you in an advertising page (or Jr. page).

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