* HBO buys Worst Witch

U.S. pay-tv service Home Box Office has licensed the first 13 half-hours of the Canada/u.k. preteen comedy series The Worst Witch. The deal was secured by Itel, international sales unit for Britain’s htv, and facilitated by Montreal-based producer Arnie Gelbart of Galafilm.

In order ‘to clinch the sale to hbo,’ Ian Whitehead, series line producer, says the show had to be dubbed into ‘American’ English. Both the ‘American’ and French-track dubbing were done at the Covitec sound studios in Montreal. hbo will broadcast one episode a month, starting in July.

Gelbart is currently shooting 13 new half-hours with Global Arts and htv, both of London, Eng. htv is part of the ITV Network, the u.k.’s leading commercial broadcaster.

Two of the new season’s 13 episodes are being taped in digital pal over 13 days on location in Quebec this month. The balance of the shoot, 65 days, will be taped in the u.k.

The coproduction was htv’s top-rated kids’ show last season. It is budgeted at $500,000 per episode, with funding in Canada from Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Television Fund’s Licence Fee Program and from broadcasters ytv, tfo and Radio-Canada.