—Independent.co.uk: Following on from the long list of online partnerships it signed in the past year, the Indie is to show the Endemol-produced and Bebo-commissioned original online-only drama series The Gap Year on its student section. The show will be aired on a soon-to-be-launched video channel—the indie took down its main video channel some months ago but is developing the new section as a home for all its short-form clips including those created by Indie journalists and partners. VOD marketing company The Web TV Enterprise is being hired to sign up video sponsors. Via Mediaweek.

—Tiscali: Despite the altogether bigger problems surrounding the future of Italian-based ISP Tiscali, the company is partnering with Nickelodeon to launch a promotional on-demand kids’ TV channel Nick Extra for its UK IPTV subscribers. The channel will promote Nickelodeon’s upcoming TV shows and run interactive competitions. Nickelodeon’s main paid-for channel is free to Tiscali subscribers throughout April. From Mediaweek.

—FactualTV: Stockholm-based online documentary site Factualtv.com has signed a deal with Guinness World Records to provide a video channel for the world record monitor’s site. Both long and short clips will be added when the channel goes live in the next few weeks. FactualTV launched six months ago and has signed several partnerships including with Netherlands-based factual content distributor Off The Fence and September Films in the UK. From C21Media.net.

—Sky-Second Life: BSkyB’s Sky News has officially shut down its newsroom in Second Life two years after its launch. Sky will instead have a so-called “immersive workspace” in the virtual world where its reporters can discuss stories with the general public. Reuters shut down its own Second Life island in November, having previously given reporter Adam Pasick the job of reporting the virtual beat full time. One can only wonder how long Sky will keep employing a full-time Twitter correspondent. Via Journalism.co.uk.

—iTunes Germany: German iTunes users can now pay to download feature films from major studios and indie producers. Paramount, Warner Bros, Disney (NYSE: DIS), MGM and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures are all making several of their Hollywood flicks available on Apple’s store alongside smaller German productions. Universal is a notable omission from that list, though Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) isn’t saying why. TV shows have been available from major networks in Germany since last year. Via Variety.com.