28 July 2008
Postman Pat Launches On China's National Television Network
RNS REACH 22 July 2008
Entertainment Rights Plc
(“Entertainment Rights”, ER” or “the Company”)
Postman Pat® Launches On China’s National Television Network
Entertainment Rights Plc (LSE: ERT) the UK's leading global media group specialising in the ownership, acquisition, exploitation and distribution of children's and family programming, characters and brands today announces the launch of popular pre-school series, Postman Pat® on China’s national television network, China Central Television (CCTV). Entertainment Rights has also secured a number of key international broadcast agreements for the brand new series, Postman Pat® - Special Delivery Service (SDS).
CCTV is China’s dominant broadcast platform with more than 16 individual channels and its dedicated children’s channel launched Postman Pat on 7 July. The network acquired 106 episodes of existing Postman Pat® content that will bring the iconic Postman Pat® character to more than 200 million children in China for the first time.
To support the growth and development of the Postman Pat® brand in China, Entertainment Rights has secured leading DVD distributor YiZhouRen as DVD partner in Chinese speaking territories. China’s largest operator in children’s media, U Young, and CCTV’s advertising agency are acting as ER’s exclusive licensing agents for the region with consumer products set to roll out in 2009.
Entertainment Rights continues to make strong progress in fully exploiting the potential of Postman Pat® worldwide. Further to the announcement made in September 2007, the brand new BBC commission of the Postman Pat® (SDS) series is on track to premiere this autumn on CBeebies. Whilst maintaining the brand integrity of the classic character, Postman Pat® (SDS) will have a modern approach with an expanded diverse cast, new storylines and town. Supporting the series is a range of new products including a fleet of vehicles, track systems and locations, which are being developed by leading toy company Character Options, for launch at retail in early 2009.
Following a successful unveiling at MIPTV earlier this year, deals for Postman Pat® (SDS) have been secured with major broadcasters including ABC (Australia), DRTV (Denmark), TV4 (Sweden), Rai Sat (Italy), MNET (South Africa), MBC (Middle East), ATV (Hong Kong) and True Vision (Thailand). SF Norge (Nordics) and Lusamondo (Portugal) have also come on board as DVD partners.
Nick Phillips, CEO, Entertainment Rights Plc, commented: “I am delighted that Postman Pat® has launched on CCTV, the leading broadcast platform in China. This platform provides mass exposure for the brand. We remain committed to internationalising our key brands which have consistently proven to have significant global appeal. The brand refresh of Postman Pat® will continue to deliver sustainable benefits for our shareholders.”
-ends-
Enquiries:
Entertainment Rights plc 020 8762 6200
Nick Phillips, Chief Executive Officer
Elizabeth Gaines, Chief Finance & Operations Director
Simon Avis, Head of Public Relations
Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial 020 7861 3232
David Rydell / Amy Rajendran
Editors Notes
About Entertainment Rights
Entertainment Rights Plc (ER) is a global entertainment media company, with a portfolio that includes some of the world’s most popular children’s, family and pop-culture brands. With offices in London, New York and Nashville, the Company specialises in the origination, acquisition and distribution of children’s and family programming, characters and brands. The Company’s catalogue appeals to a broad demographic from pre-school children to young adults and families. The ER catalogue consists of more than 3,600 hours of content that has been distributed in more than 170 territories worldwide. ER’s expertise is in the exploitation of its catalogue of brands and content in a number of key disciplines, including television and theatrical distribution, product licensing and merchandising, live and home entertainment, and digital media.
ER is a publicly quoted company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Annual revenues have increased from £1.8m in 1999 to £68.1m in 2007, the last reported financial year.
Key brands in ER’s global portfolio include Postman Pat®, Where’s Waldo?®, Tinga Tinga Tales™, VeggieTales®, Rupert Bear®, George Of The Jungle™, Lassie®, Casper The Friendly Ghost®, Basil Brush®, Finley The Fire Engine™, The Lone Ranger®, He-Man® and the Masters of the Universe®, She-Ra™ and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer®.
Visit www.entertainmentrights.com
Website:www.postmanpat.com
Related:
Postman Pat - Trailer (English), Postman Pat - Trailer (German), Postman Pat ® - Ice Cream Machine, Postman Pat ® - Clowns Around, Postman Pat ® - Great Dinosaur Hunt, Postman Pat ® - Magic Christmas, Postman Pat ® - The Giant Snowball,