HIT Entertainment Digital Newsroom

Preschoolers Say "Bienvenidos" To New Friends As HIT Entertainment And V-Me Enter Strategic Partnership

03/06/2007

New York, NY

HIT Entertainment, a leading provider of quality preschool entertainment, pens its first major Spanish language television deal in the US with V-me, a new, national Spanish language network. V-me, (pronounced veh-meh) which in Spanish means "see me", is a 24-hour digital broadcast network presented by public television stations in markets across America, and is carried on basic digital cable and satellite. This deal will bring more than five of HIT's quality preschool programs into approximately 60 percent of Spanish speaking households in the US, reaching more than 28 million homes.

"V-me is committed to setting new standards of quality for preschool programming in Spanish, and we are extremely careful in choosing our properties and our partners," said Guillermo Sierra, SVP and Chief Content Officer for V-me. "We are extremely happy to establish this relationship with HIT, which represents some of the most successful and highest-quality children's titles in the world."

"V-me, an innovative leader in Spanish television, is bringing tremendous diversity and opportunity to the television landscape," said Claudia Scott-Hansen, Vice President, US Content Distribution, HIT Entertainment. "Through this deal, a new, diverse audience of preschoolers will be exposed to the fantastical, whimsical and charming adventures of The Hoobs™, Kipper™, the Rubbadubbers™ and even more of HIT's world renowned properties, for the first time in Spanish in the US market."

HIT programs available on V-me starting on March 5th include:

• Brambley Hedge -- Brambley Hedge, based on the exquisite picture books by Jill Barklem, is an animated series that tells the stories of the lives and adventures of a community of mice who live in Brambley Hedge.
  
• Kipper -- Kipper is based on the best-selling books by Mick Inkpen. This animated adventure chronicles a curious dog with an over-active imagination, and his hilarious escapades with his friends Tiger, Arnold, Pig and Jake.
  
• Percy the Park Keeper -- This charming animated series features Percy, a kind, gentle man who lives in the park, un-hindered by the stresses and strains of modern life. He is a father figure and a friend to all the animals that live nearby.
  
• Rubbadubbers -- Rubbadubbers is an animated series that follow the exploits of a group of bath toys, whose lively minds take them on incredible journeys when bath time is over!
  
• The Hoobs -- The Hoobs, from the Jim Henson Family Classics, follows a group of great explorers who learn about planet Earth by posing different questions to all the children that they encounter during their adventures. Created with live animation puppetry, the four main Hoobs -- Tula, Groover, Iver and Roma -- live in a Hoobmobile and travel to all parts of the world in their quest to discover and learn new things.

About HIT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment, owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners since June 2005, is one of the world’s leading independent children’s entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT’s portfolio includes internationally renowned children’s properties, such as Bob the Builder™, Barney™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Rubbadubbers™ and Angelina Ballerina™. HIT acts as a representative for The Wiggles® in the UK, US and Canada and as worldwide representative for The Jim Henson Company’s library of classic family brands, including Fraggle Rock™. HIT also owns the Guinness World Records™ publishing and television property and Fireman Sam™, a joint venture with S4C. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production (including studios in the US and the UK), publishing, consumer products licensing and live events. With a catalog of more than 1,000 hours of young children’s programming, HIT sells its shows to more than 240 countries worldwide, in more than 40 different languages and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. In 2005, the Company joined Comcast Corporation, PBS and Sesame Workshop to launch PBS KIDS Sprout℠, a 24-hour digital cable channel and VOD service for preschoolers. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.

About V-me
V-me is a new national Spanish-language television network partnered with Public TV that entertains, inspires and educates Latino families in Spanish with a lively mix of original and exclusive programs including preschool, lifestyle, nature, science, history, current affairs, music, arts, and nightly movies. The 24-hour digital broadcast network is presented by public television stations and carried on basic digital cable and satellite. V-me is the first venture announced by newly formed media production and distribution company, V-me Media Inc. For more information, visit www.V-me.tv