HIT Entertainment Digital Newsroom

HIT Entertainment Partners with BigPlay Studios to Launch First Bob the Builder™ App

Bob the Builder and the Machine Team Come to Life With Narration, Animation, Games and Art

01/10/2012

New York, NY

HIT Entertainment, one of the world's leading providers of high-quality children's entertainment, and BigPlay Studios, a noteworthy developer of game, education, and book apps, have announced the launch of Bob the Builder™: Muck's Train to Trouble for the iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod Touch®, available in Apple's App store this week. This marks the very first app release for the Bob the Builder brand.

Bob the Builder: Muck's Train to Trouble is an interactive reading experience which also features unique painting activities, video clips, and games.Every page includes dynamic narration, familiar character voices, custom animations and easy to read words with highlighted text. Children will follow along as Bob and the team build a train ride at the Dinosaur Fun Park. Muck discovers rocks in her path and tries to solve the problem without asking for help from the other diggers, with dangerous consequences!

With this first Bob the Builder app, HIT Entertainment adds to its growing iOS apps portfolio which includes several top-selling and critically-acclaimed apps featuring Thomas & Friends™, Angelina Ballerina™, Fireman Sam™, and Barney™.

"We are thrilled to usher Bob the Builder into the apps arena with Muck's Train to Trouble. This story-inspired app introduces unique interactive features that draw from Bob's colorful CGI world and offers a new reading and play experience for kids and families," said Natasha Fishman, Senior Vice President, Global Brand Management and Digital Media. "We are excited to collaborate with Big Play Studios on this new book app where Bob fans will encounter fun and activities on every page."

Carl Lavin, CEO of BigPlay Studios said, "HIT Entertainment has an amazing portfolio of children's brands, and it has been an absolute pleasure to collaborate with them on the debut Bob the Builder app. Utilizing the creative, design and development resources of BigPlay, bringing Bob the Builder to new platforms has been a thrill."

Bob the Builder was created in the UK in 1998 and made its US television debut in 2001. The show currently airs in over 240 territories and in 45 languages. It can be seen daily in the US on PBS KIDS® and Sprout® and in the UK on BBC2, CBeebies and Nick Jr. Episodes are also available for download through iTunes. For more information about Bob the Builder, and the Can-Do Crew please visit

www.bobthebuilder.com.

The Bob the Builder: Muck's Train to Trouble app is available for $2.99 USD/£1.99 GBP on iPad, iPhone 3GS and above, and iPod Touch 3rd and 4th generations at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

Bob the Builder Video Demonstration:

UK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIJs8gXLH6Y

US: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-ldQelGZmg

About BigPlay Studios
BigPlay Studios designs and develops educational and creative apps for children. Our team of award-winning creatives, producers, developers and educators are based in London, UK. We work in partnership with leading children's entertainment producers and rights-owners in order to make fun and engaging apps. For more information, visit www.bigplaystudios.com.

About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Thomas & Friends™, Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™, Mike the Knight™, Pingu™ and Rainbow Magic™. Launched in 1989, HIT's lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, Sprout®. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.

To download artwork, please visit www.hitnewsonline.com.