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| Formerly | |
|---|---|
| Company type | In-name-only unit ofMattel |
| Industry | Television production |
| Genre | Entertainment Children's programming |
| Predecessors | Gullane Entertainment Lyrick Studios |
| Founded | 1982; 43 years ago (1982) |
| Founders | |
| Defunct | 31 March 2016; 9 years ago (2016-03-31) |
| Fate | Absorbed intoMattel Creations |
| Successor | Mattel Television |
| Headquarters |
|
Number of locations | 3 |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Peter Orton |
| Products | |
| Services | |
Number of employees | 188+ |
| Parent |
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| Divisions |
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| Subsidiaries | |
HIT Entertainment Limited (stylised asHiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 asHenson International Television, the international distribution arm ofThe Jim Henson Company, byJim Henson,Peter Orton, andSophie Turner Laing. Orton alone took over the company in 1989 after learning Henson intended to sell the company toThe Walt Disney Company. HIT owned and distributedchildren's television series such asThomas & Friends,Fireman Sam,Bob the Builder,Pingu,Barney & Friends, andAngelina Ballerina.[5]
HIT Entertainment was one of several partner companies alongsideComcast,PBS, andSesame Workshop that foundedPBS Kids Sprout; many of HIT's shows aired on the channel as a result.
On 1 February 2012, HIT Entertainment was acquired byMattel, as Mattel was initially only interested in theThomas & Friends brand in its acquisition, according toDeadline Hollywood.[6] Mattel absorbed the company on 31 March 2016 into its then newly created division,Mattel Creations.[7]
HIT had a brand initiative called The Little Big Club, to feature some of the company's characters in live events held at shopping malls.
Peter Orton had metJim Henson when he was at theChildren's Television Workshop handling distribution ofSesame Street. As a result, he became close friends with Henson and went to work with him in 1981.[8] Together they set up Henson International Television, which was the international distribution arm ofJim Henson Productions the following year, with Orton becoming the company's CEO.[1]
Beginning in the late-1980s, Jim Henson Productions began negotiations withThe Walt Disney Company regarding a possible purchase of a merger. Upon hearing these talks, Orton and other employees at HIT! convinced Henson to allow them to spin off the distribution arm as an independent distribution company. Following Henson's approval, in October 1989, Orton ledmanagement buyout of Henson International Television and re-incorporated the subsidiary as a standalone company named HIT Communications PLC.[3][9]
Under its new name, HIT no longer held distribution rights to Henson's catalogue, and instead began acquiring other programs for international distribution, includingWoodland Animations'Postman Pat andBagdasarian Productions'Alvin and the Chipmunks, and later international acquisitions likeLyrick Studios'Barney & Friends.
Beginning in 1991, HIT would begin to engage in co-producing shows which they would distribute internationally, with the first two as part of this new strategy beingWhere's Wally? andCaptain Zed and the Zee Zone. The company then began to finance and distribute animated feature films based onThe Wind in the Willows andPeter Rabbit books. Helping to fund the company was an investment by British satellite and cable television operatorFlextech took a 23% share in HIT for about £600,000.
The HIT Wildlife division was created to produce nature and wildlife programming which provided the company with 35% of its revenue by the mid-1990s.[3]
With the success ofBarney, HIT began to develop its own programming. In 1996, HIT was listed on theAIM to raise funding; it used the funding to launch HIT Video, which would produce direct-to-video programming in theUK.
A new character came to the company's attention in 1996, when advertising executive and would-be cartoonistKeith Chapman pitched his idea to HIT Entertainment. Chapman's character was ageneral contractor namedBob the Builder. While a number of other producers had turned down the idea, HIT recognized its potential and bought the rights to developing the Bob the Builder character into a television series. The deal saw Chapman retain a share of the copyright and also a contractual clause which sees his name appear on all media & merchandise related to the character.[3]
With another offering in 1997, HIT increased its capitalization and move to the primaryLondon Stock Exchange, whose funding HIT would use to develop some of its first original series includingBrambly Hedge,Percy the Park Keeper, andKipper, which became its first hit onITV.[3]
In 1998, HIT formed its own animation production company,HOT Animation, and its Consumers Product Division. TheBBC agreed to broadcastBob the Builder. HIT signed a series of American broadcasting deals starting withNickelodeon forKipper expanding toStarz/Encore for theBrambly Hedge andPercy the Park Keeper television series;HBO Family for theAnthony Ant cartoon series, andAnimal Planet for theWylands Ocean World wildlife program.Kipper won the 1998 BAFTA Award for Best Children's Animation. At the end of the year, HIT offered another group of shares.[3]
In 1999, HIT had 10 first-run television series in the United States and started an American subsidiary. In April,Bob the Builder successfully debuted on theBBC; in July the company made another public offering of stock. An American deal forBob the Builder was signed in December with Nickelodeon to start airing in January 2001.Mattel signed a five-year licensing agreement for the development of theAngelina Ballerina television series.[3]
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HIT, which had long been suggesting that it intended to expand its character stable through acquisitions, nearly found a partner in early 2000 when the company held talks withBritt Allcroft, the British company which held the licenses to such popular characters asThomas the Tank Engine,Captain Pugwash, andSooty. The two sides were unable to agree on a price, however, and the merger fell through.[3] Bob the Builder continued its success with the number one record in December that year.[3]
In December 2000, HIT's US division entered into a home video partnership withLyrick Studios, home and owner ofBarney & Friends, for distribution ofBob the Builder andKipper releases.[10] This early partnership was an early plan for that led to HIT purchasing Lyrick for $275 million,[11] which would in turn give HIT a marketing and distribution network that it used to introduce its properties to U.S. audiences. Vice versa, the deal would help expandBarney's international presence, which was what Lyrick needed at the time.[12] The chief executive of HIT, Rob Lawes, was the driving force of the acquisition.[13] The Lyrick acquisition encouraged HIT Entertainment to pursue new acquisitions.
In May 2001, the firstBob the Builder VHS volumes were released in the United States by HIT/Lyrick, while the company signed a deal withSears to have Bob Shops in their retail stores. The Jim Henson Company's ownerEM.TV was in financial trouble over its purchase of 50% share inFormula One racing rights, and HIT joined a number of companies willing to purchase TJHC.[3] In October 2001, HIT's bid forPingu BV was accepted.[14]
In April 2002, HIT Entertainment sold its wildlife division to the newly formed Parthenon Entertainment, which was owned by the former managing director of HIT Wildlife, Carlos "Carl" Hall, with its 30 hours of programming in production and its 300-hour library was transferred in themanagement buyout agreement.[15]
The board ofGullane Entertainment agreed to have the company be purchased by HIT for £139 million.[16] The television shows owned by Gullane includedThomas & Friends,Magic Adventures of Mumfie, andFireman Sam, which a stake of was purchased fromS4C months before. On 22 August 2002, HIT Entertainment officially opened its Canadian office inToronto.[4]
In March 2003,CCI Entertainment, the Canadian affiliate of Gullane who owned a minority stake in CCI's shares prior to the HIT purchase, announced they had ended their partnership with HIT and re-acquired their shares in the company, including all of their programming libraries, which made out half of Gullane's catalogue. The shows CCI reacquired were put into the company's CCI Releasing subsidiary.[17] HIT's next television seriesRubbadubbers aired in September of the same year.
On 1 April 2004, HIT and The Jim Henson Company agreed to a five-year global distribution and production deal which included distribution of 440 hours of TJHC's remaining library, includingFraggle Rock,Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas,The Hoobs, andJim Henson's Mother Goose Stories. In addition, the agreement also included the production of new properties, includingFrances, in which both companies co-produced. Both companies co-owned the copyright to the series.[18] While firing its chief executive Rob Lawes in October 2004, the company announced its launching of a 24-hour preschool channel known asPBS Kids Sprout withPBS,Comcast, andSesame Workshop.[19]
On 22 March 2005,Apax Partners purchased HIT for £489.4 million,[20] taking it private,[21] with former BBC director generalGreg Dyke becoming chairman.[22][23] On 26 August 2005, HIT announced an agreement withNBCUniversal,PBS, andSesame Workshop to launch the world's first 24-hour preschool television channel entitledPBS Kids Sprout, with HIT supplying programming for the channel as a result at the time.
In February 2006, HIT closed its DVD sales and distribution arm in the U.S. and signed a deal with20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to release their content in the North American market.[24] The deal would significantly boost HIT's distribution to over 70,000 retail storefronts.[25][22] HIT continued to sell and distribute its own DVD output in the UK.[22][26]
On 8 March 2007, HIT announced they had purchased theRainbow Magic book franchise with intentions to create a media and consumer lineup for the property.[27] On 22 March, HIT acquiredS4C's 50% stake inFireman Sam, taking full ownership in the franchise. S4C would remain an executive producer for upcoming seasons and retain all Welsh-language rights to the property.[28] In September, HIT andChellomedia formed a joint venture to run theJimJam children's channel.[29] HIT Entertainment opened its own toy company, the HIT Toy Company. In October, after failing to supplyITV a new series ofSooty the previous year, HIT announced they had put the Sooty Limited/Bridgefilms venture up for sale, consisting of bothSooty andMagic Adventures of Mumfie, an earlier Britt Allcroft creation.[30]
In 2008, HIT underwent a range of sales for IPs previously put up for sale. They soldGuinness World Records toRipley Entertainment in February,[31]Magic Adventures of Mumfie back toBritt Allcroft in March[32] andSooty to his current presenterRichard Cadell in June.[33] Alongside that, they had hired formerNickelodeon executive,Jeffrey D. Dunn, as chief executive. Dunn drove the company to create new characters, includingMike the Knight, and to revitalize existing brands.[22] In March, HIT changed their North American home media distributor from 20th Century Fox toLionsgate Home Entertainment.[34] In April, HIT secured a first-look deal with israeli-based animation studio Smartoonz to secure distribution rights toLittle Fables and to co-produce and representMonkey See, Monkey Do andClay Play.[35] In November, HIT licensed theArt Attack IP toDisney to revive the series for Latin America.[36] This partnership eventually led to Disney purchasing theArt Attack property from HIT by 2011.[37]
In January 2009, HIT announced the production of its next production,Little Charley Bear.[38] However in October,Chapman Entertainment took over production for the series while HIT would remain as a distribution agent for television and home entertainment.[39] In March 2009, HIT started up a theatrical film division, entitled HIT Movies, inLos Angeles with Julia Pistor as division head, to create films based on the company's franchises.[40] The division's first planned film adaptation was a live-actionThomas & Friends film, scheduled for late 2010.[41]
In early 2010, HIT licensedThomas & Friends toMattel for toys[42] and struck a deal with theAlbavisión conglomerate, to supply its television stations across Hispanic America with 600 hours worth of its catalog.[43] By August, the company withdrew from the JimJam joint venture, but agreed to continue providing programming for the channel until the absorption into Mattel.[44]
In April 2011, Apax put HIT up for sale, with the option to sell the company in two parts:Thomas & Friends franchise and the other HIT characters with its PBS Kids Sprout stake, with either part or separately. Several bidders came forward, includingThe Walt Disney Company,Viacom,Mattel,Hasbro,Classic Media,Chorion, andSaban Brands.[21] By April 2011, Fireman Sam was a Top 10 UK best-selling character toy according toNPD Group.[22] Their next programMike the Knight, a co-production betweenNelvana aired onTreehouse TV andCBeebies later in the year.[22]
Apax Partners agreed to sell HIT Entertainment to Mattel on 24 October 2011 for $680 million[45][46] excluding its share of thePBS Kids Sprout television channel.[42][47] The sale/merger was completed on 1 February 2012, and HIT Entertainment became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel,[48] which was managed under itsFisher-Price unit.[49][50] Due to the success of theThomas & Friends brand, which accounted for 80% of HIT's revenues, there was talks of Mattel only wanting to purchase that franchise rather than the entire HIT library.[6] Mattel had already worked alongside HIT Entertainment and handled marketing forThomas & Friends toys.[51] On 3 July 2012, it was reported that Mattel considered selling and sought a buyer forBarney andAngelina Ballerina, but they eventually kept them.[52]
HIT announced a DVD distribution deal withUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment on 2 May 2014.[53] in which Universal began distributing their catalogue for Blu-ray and DVD electronic sell-through and VOD platforms in the United States and Canada. In early summer 2015, theEdaville USA amusement park inSouth Carver, Massachusetts opened a licensed Thomas Land theme area based onThomas & Friends.[49] On 6 October 2015, HIT Entertainment announced a long-term partnership with9 Story Media Group to relaunchBarney & Friends andAngelina Ballerina.[54][55]
On 31 March 2016, HIT was absorbed into a newly created division calledMattel Creations.[7]
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