HIT Entertainment Digital Newsroom

Hit Entertainment Launches Exclusive Thomas & Friends™ Month-Long Event at Santa Fe Mall in Mexico City

11/12/2008

New York, NY

HIT Entertainment, a leading provider of quality children's entertainment, has partnered with Media Access, a leading events company in Latin America, to launch the first-ever Thomas & Friends™ mall event at Santa Fe Mall in Mexico, the largest upscale mall in Mexico City, welcoming 1.6 million visitors monthly.

From November 15 to December 15, Thomas & Friends™ will be featured at the premiere mall in a dedicated interactive play-and-shop area. Parents and children will be invited to enjoy a variety of events, all centered around a giant, inflatable Thomas bounce house. Other activities include a movie area showing Thomas & Friends episodes, face painting, coloring and activity areas. The Thomas & Friends activity area will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

At the event, Thomas & Friends items, including the Take Along train system from RC2, DVDs from Tycoon Home Entertainment and games and puzzles from Briarpatch and Ravensburger, will be on display in a dedicated area. Exclusive merchandise - from t-shirts to balloons - will also be on sale at the event.

"Thomas & Friends, which is broadcast throughout Latin America via Discovery Kids, and which recently launched a toy line exclusively at Liverpool in Mexico, is quickly becoming a favorite brand amongst kids in the country," said Gabriela Arenas, Vice President, Consumer Products and Retail Marketing, HIT Entertainment, Latin America. "This event offers children and their families a wholesome, fun way to experience Thomas up close and personal and is something we hope to replicate at other malls throughout the region."

The Thomas & Friends event at Santa Fe Mall will be promoted via print, in-mall posters, as well as online through the ever-popular, Barney™ (www.barney.com).

About Thomas & Friends

Thomas & Friends invites children to enter a world of imagination through the tracks of a train and the words of a story. Thomas the Tank Engine was created by a father for his son more than 60 years ago. Today, families in more than 145 countries enjoy fun and adventure with their engine friends while experiencing timeless life lessons of discovery, friendship and cooperation. Thomas & Friends is making tracks to great destinations on PBS KIDS® and PBS KIDS Sprout℠. For more information about the world of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends, please visit www.thomasandfriends.com.

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.