KIDE trades at 18.00...SYCD still under a buck...
(BSNS WIRE) 4Kids Entertainment Inc. Reports strong demand for new Pokem
4Kids Entertainment Inc. Reports strong demand for new Pokemon Licenses
Business/Retail Editors
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 1999--4Kids Entertainment,
Inc. (NASDAQ: KIDE), licensing subsidiary, Leisure Concepts, Inc.,
reported today from the International licensing show in New York that
it continues to sign new license agreements for the wildly popular
Pokemon property.
Al Kahn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented "We
continue to see strong demand from industry leading companies looking
to brand their products with the success of Pokemon."
In addition to the previously announced license agreement with
Hasbro for toy products, Pioneer for home video and Wizards of the
Coast for strategy card games, the Company has already signed over 50
licensees; including General Mills for Fruit Snacks, Springs
Industries for bedding, Thermos for lunch boxes, American Greetings
for party goods and Topps Inc., for trading cards.
The Company has exclusive representation rights for Pokemon for
merchandise licensing, movie and television distribution outside of
Asia. The Company's Summit Media subsidiary licensed 52 episodes of
the Pokemon television series to the Kids! WB network in January 1999.
The animated television series was introduced in September 1998. The
show, which is produced by the Company's 4Kids Productions subsidiary,
currently airs in syndication five days per week and on Saturdays as
one of the anchors of the Kids' WB Saturday morning lineup. In
September 1999, Kids' WB will begins airing Pokemon eleven times a
week. Since Pokemon joined the network in February 1999, Kids' WB has
experienced its highest ratings. Pokemon has become the No. 1 rated
kids show in the country in both syndication and network.
The Company continues to expand its merchandise licensing program
for the Nintendo N64 and Game Boy video game systems and their game
characters, including Super Mario, Donkey Kong and the blockbuster hit
Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. The Company is the exclusive
merchandise licensing agent representing Nintendo characters
worldwide, except in Japan.
The Company also represents the merchandise licensing rights for
World Championship Wrestling. The WCW licensing program is comprised
of almost 200 domestic licensees including Electronic Arts for video
games, Toy Biz as the master toy licensee and the Nitro Grill, a WCW
themed restaurant which opened May 22nd, 1999 in the Excalibur Hotel,
Las Vegas.
The Company also represents Comedy Central, the Sierra Club, Bela
Karolyi and CBS's Marital Law.
Headquartered in New York, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:
KIDE) is a vertically integrated entertainment company whose
wholly-owned subsidiaries include: Leisure Concepts, Inc., a leader in
domestic and international merchandise licensing and product
development; 4Kids Productions, film and home video production
company; and Summit Media, a domestic and international television
distribution, media buying and planning company.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Due to
the fact that the Company faces competition from toy companies, motion
picture studios and other licensing companies, and the uncertainty of
the public's response to the Company's properties, actual results or
outcomes may differ materially from any such forward looking
statements.
--30--es/ny*
CONTACT: 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., New York
Joseph P. Garrity
Executive Vice President and CFO
212/758-7666
or
Public Relations:
Carlin West
Senior Vice President Marketing Communications
212/758-7666
KEYWORD: NEW YORK
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENTERTAINMENT RETAIL
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