RNS Number:4866N
DIC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.
07 February 2008
DIC Entertainment Holdings Inc
(London Thursday 7th February 2008) DIC Entertainment Holdings Inc ("DIC"), the
fully integrated global brand management company, announces the launch of a
major European licensing programme for its new animated property Horseland,
which is aimed at the 6-11 year old girls market. The Company is also announcing
today a second series of 26 episodes, as a result of the very positive reaction
from audiences and product partners.
These retail deals follow the successful rollout of series 1 (26 episodes) in
Europe where it now screens or is due to screen in 20 territories. The series,
which has been airing on US network television on CBS since last year with an
accompanying retail programme, has secured a series of European licensing deals
across all the top children's categories including toys, apparel, games and
publishing. These initial deals are alongside a range of European home
entertainment contracts.
Jeffrey Edell, President and COO of the Company said,
"Horseland is proving to be an extremely successful property with broadcasters
and licensors alike recognizing that it has all the potential to be a
long-running evergreen property. In addition to its promise as a licensing
property Horseland is showing enormous appeal as a web destination with its
current site www.horseland.com which now has 1.6 million active player
accounts."
The following is the text of the announcement made on Tuesday 5th February to
the toy, licensing and entertainment trade press.
DIC ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES HORSELAND RETAIL PROGRAM ACROSS EUROPE
26 Half-Hour Episodes of Season 1 Horseland Television Series Currently Airs
Throughout the Region and New Debuts Scheduled for 2008
DIC Greenlights 26 More Half-Hours of Horseland
Burbank, California, February 5, 2008 -- DIC Entertainment, a global brand
management company, announces the 2008 European retail launch of the girls'
brand, Horseland, based on the hit television series. The announcement was made
today by Leslie Nelson, SVP & Managing Director, EMEA, DIC.
Currently with over 20 licensees onboard across Europe, DIC, and their licensing
partners, will debut an all new merchandise line for the Horseland brand in key
categories, including toys (Lansay - French-speaking Europe and Thinkway Toys -
UK), publishing (Carlsen Verlag - Germany, Big Balloon and NSC Europe - Benelux,
International Editorial Service - Italy), games (Ravensburger - France, Germany,
Benelux), apparel (Van Der Erve - France, Germany, Benelux), bed linen (BellTex
- France, Germany, Benelux), PC and DS games (Mindscape - Europe) and Back to
school (Tennessee in France). Additionally, Holco published the first Horseland
magazine in the Netherlands, and will be followed by Blue Ocean in Germany and
Austria. In French speaking Europe, the merchandise program will also be
supported with a summer QSR 2008 promotion with over 1 million premiums produced
for a high-profile quick service restaurant.
The Horseland television series has been sold to more than 20 countries in the
EMEA and has aired and/or currently airs on France 5 (France), Teletoon
(France), Kika (Germany), ZDF (Germany), Jetix Holland (Dutch-speaking Benelux),
Pop Girl (UK), VT4 (Dutch-speaking Benelux), TV2 (Norway), SVT (Sweden), Logi
(Israel), Alter Channel (Greece), TV Ontario (English-speaking Canada), Minimax
(Hungary, Czech-Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina), TG4 (Ireland)
and on pay TV in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. In 2008, the series
will debut on RAI2 (Italy), Atenna TV (Cyprus), SIC (Portugal), M-Net (South
Africa), D Smart (Turkey) and on Space Toon throughout the Middle East.
Horseland has received stellar ratings in territories, including Germany where
the show, airing on Kika, achieved a 19.8% market share with Girls 3 - 13. In
Norway on TV2, Horseland was the #1 series, achieving a 36.5% market share with
Kids 3 - 13. On Jetix in Holland, Horseland achieved a 45% market share (Girls
6-9) and 33.5% (Kids 6-12).
DIC has also secured European home entertainment deals for Horseland with CITEL
in France (release scheduled for Q3 2008), Scanbox in Scandinavia (release
scheduled for May 2008), Panini in German-speaking Europe (release scheduled for
a March/April 2008) and Bridge Entertainment in Dutch-speaking Benelux
(currently in release). Viva Entertainemnt has acquired rights in the Middle
East (release TBA), and Mirax has acquired rights in Hungary, Romania, the Czech
and Slovak Republics (release TBD).
More...
Horseland European Press Release
Page 2 of 2
"We are thrilled with the European reception to this unique property," comments
Nelson. "Horseland incorporates all of the key elements that create a successful
brand in this marketplace - adventure, fantasy, compelling storylines, unique
characters and interactive play." She adds. "With an additional 26 episodes in
production for delivery in 2008, this demonstrates that we are seriously
committed to building Horseland into a classic evergreen girl's brand across
Europe."
The Horseland merchandise program launched in 2007 in the U.S. to coincide with
the worldwide network premiere of the series on the children's programming
block, "KEWLopolis" on CBS where Horseland continues to air. The program
continues to build momentum with key categories in the marketplace, including
toys (Thinkway Toys), home entertainment (NCircle), publishing (HarperCollins)
and apparel (Jerry Leigh).
The series, which targets Girls 6 - 11 years old, originated from the highly
successful, persistent web community (2.4 million registered accounts),
www.horseland.com, on which kids can interactively buy, sell, breed and train
virtual horses, and compete with themselves and each other. DIC re-launched the
web community www.horseland.com to synchronize the interaction between the
"series and the website, allowing users to interact with the characters and
animals from the series.
Horseland is set in the greatest stable ever, where kids and their horses
compete and have adventures, and the horses and other animals can talk to each
other - about the humans! In this new series, virtual reality horses come
together with action adventure storylines. The episodes follow the relationships
of five girls and two boys who have become fast friends trough their love of
horses. Each episode features themes that deal with issues such as compassion,
honesty, cooperation-both human and equine. But, like all friends, they
occasionally have conflicts too. Each character owns a unique horse, and the
horses and stable dogs can talk to each other. All of the horses will be
rendered very faithfully to their breeds, with precise, accurate depictions of
training, grooming, riding and competition.
DIC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment, a fully-integrated global brand management company, is
dedicated to creating, developing, producing, distributing, marketing and
merchandising family-based intellectual properties. The Company serves as the
worldwide licensor or agent for brands such as McDonald's, Strawberry Shortcake,
Madeline, Mommy & Me, The Beginner's Bible and Eloise. DIC has distinguished
itself by building one of the largest libraries of animation worldwide with
approximately 3,000 half-hours of programming, including Inspector GadgetTM,
Dino SquadTM, Strawberry ShortcakeTM, Horseland, SabrinaTM, MadelineTM,
Liberty's KidsTM, Sonic The Hedgehog and Care BearsTM. In 2007, DIC and CBS
launched a new educational and informational Saturday morning programming block,
"KEWLopolis on CBS." As a pre-eminent supplier of kid's programming worldwide,
DIC has developed strategic partnerships with key broadcast partners throughout
North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Australia. DIC also
acquired Copyright Promotions, a Pan-European licensing agency that represents
the licensing rights of a broad portfolio of world-renowned companies including
DreamWorks Animation, MGM, Marvel, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Viacom and The
Football Association. DIC is headquartered in Burbank, California with offices
in New York, Paris and London.
# # #
Press Contacts:
Michelle Orsi (for DIC)
Three.Sixty Communications
310.372.2309
michelle@360-comm.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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