HIT Ent. Expands Into Hong Kong
HIT Ent. is expanding with a new office servicing the Asia Pacific region in Hong Kong. HITs Asia Pacific licensing, TV sales and distribution will be handled out of Hong Kong, enabling the company to work more closely with its broadcasting partners, licensees and licensing agents.
The Hong Kong office will service Australia, Korea, South East Asia and India. HIT already operates an office in Japan.
Our pan-Asian business is one of the fastest growing regions in our international markets," said HIT's evp of international, Peter Byrne. "We look forward to expanding and building upon the success of our properties in the region as we increase our focus and work more closely with our partners.
Claire Dicey is the first appointment to the region and assumes the role of sales director, South East Asia. Previously based in London, Dicey has handled HITs Asia Pacific business over the past two years and has relocated to Hong Kong. HIT will continue to recruit staff across licensing, sales and consumer products. All personnel will report into Peter Byrne and Alison Homewood, evp, worldwide distribution. Byrne and Homewood are based in London and report to HIT ceo Bruce Steinberg.
Established in 1989, HIT Ent. is one of the world's leading preschool children's entertainment producers and rights owners. With operations in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Japan and Germany, the company's activities span television production and distribution, home entertainment, consumer products, publishing and live events. HIT's famous characters which include classic global brands such as BOB THE BUILDER, BARNEY, THOMAS & FRIENDS, PINGU, KIPPER and ANGELINA BALLERINA, which are enjoyed by children in more than 150 countries and territories.
HIT Ent. (www.hitentertainment.com), 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, and HIT acts as a representative for THE WIGGLES in the U.K., U.S. and Canada. HIT also owns the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS publishing and television property and FIREMAN SAM, a joint venture with S4C. Launched in 1989, HITs lines of business span television and video production (including studios in the U.S. and the U.K.), 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 some 240 countries worldwide, in more than 40 different languages and has operations in the U.K., U.S., Japan, Hong Kong and Canada. In 2005, the Company joined Comcast Corporation, PBS and Sesame Workshop to launch PBS KIDS SproutSM, a 24-hour digital cable channel and VOD service for preschoolers.