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News Tidbits: Satellite Carriage Dispute, Summer Glau, and More

Business News
The 10-day contract dispute between DirectTV and Viacom has been settled. Earlier this month, 17 Viacom-owned networks (along with their HD feeds) were removed from DirectTV's lineup after a failure to reach a carriage agreement between the two parties. A quick look at press releases after the settlement a few days ago would seem that the distributor (DirectTV) has won the stand-off. However, as often in life, the truth is probably somewhere in-between, as Viacom is likely to see an increase in the fees it receives from DirectTV, even though it would probably not be the spike the mass media company was aiming for. The dispute affected about 20 million households in the U.S., depriving them of channels such as MTV, BET, Comedy Central, and many others. [Deadline Hollywood]

Renewal News

HBO has renewed The Newsroom for a second season, but not its "writers." It would appear all Aaron Sorkin's collaborators in the writing of the much watched and much-talked-about/hated TV series, except for his ex-girlfriend, Corinne Kinsbury, have been let go. [Indiewire]

Nickelodeon has ordered a second season of The Legend of Korra after the success of Season 1, Book 1. The show was already slated to return in 2013 with the premiere of Season 1, Book 2, which will consist of 14 episodes. [EW]

MTV has commissioned an obscenely long 24-episode fourth season of Teen Wolf, its successful foray into fantasy and the supernatural. [TVLine]

Aliens are apparently here to stay a bit longer, as TNT has renewed Falling Skies for a third season full of Tom Mason's lectures and family issues. [Zap2it]

Casting News
Summer Glau will return to Alphas in season two as Skylar Adams, the tech/electronic whiz. Needless to say, some who were planning on skipping the whole season of Alphas will reconsider. And those who will undoubtedly start talking about the curse should read a piece we did several moons ago. [Syfy]

The Lying Game has cast Ryan Rottman as "a handsome, athletic, confident teen from Beverly Hills who's new in town and has a secret agenda." This is ABC Family, so Rottman is indeed handsome and has the appropriate credentials to show for it (90210). [TV Guide]

ABC's Once Upon a Time has nabbed Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch) who will recur as Mulan (yes, that Mulan!). The show has also cast Sarah Bolger (The Tudors), who will play Sleeping Beauty. [TV.com]

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