Friday January 22, 6:23 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
The Number One Rated Kids Show in Syndication
Returns to NATPE Causing Widespread Pokemania!
-- NATPE Booth No.1331 Hosts the Hottest Kids Show in America -
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 1999-- The Pokemon craze just keeps getting crazier in 1999, much to the
credit of the animated series becoming the No.1 rated syndicated kids show in America. The syndicators of the five-day strip,
The Summit Media Group, a subsidiary of 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIDE - news), also announced today that
they have recently purchased 52 more episodes for next season.
''The popularity and success that the Pokemon animated series has experienced in the U.S. has been overwhelming,'' said Al
Kahn, Chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment. ''The show's viewership, demographics and numbers have been gaining
more and more momentum since the first episode went on the air in the U.S. only three months ago.''
Based on the enormously successful Japanese cartoon series and Nintendo Game Boy game, the Pokemon cartoon airs
Monday-Friday in morning or after-school time slots. In markets that air the series in morning timeslots, Pokemon has given
such popular shows as The Today Show, Good Morning, America and CBS, This Morning some serious competition in the
rating wars.
The tremendous popularity and appeal of the Pokemon phenomenon in the U.S. has been showcased not only in the television
show's ratings, but also the Nintendo Gameboy game sales, the Hasbro toy line sales and widespread media coverage in such
major publications as TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, L.A. Times, New York Magazine, etc.
Nintendo has dedicated their time, creativity and 12-14 million dollars to Pokemon, which includes the series, the gameboy,
promotions and advertising. HASBRO is making its presence known by creating the some of the most exciting Pokemon toys
of the year, already with a successful sell through for '98, which only consisted of November and December. Based on this
early success, retailers moved quickly to reorder in preparation for 1999 demand.
Kool Aid and Oscar Meyer Lunchables plan to partner with Pokemon for future promotions. Kool Aid will be supporting
Pokemon with 30-second fully dedicated promotional TV spots targeting kids 6-12 (Valued est. 1.4MM). Oscar Meyer
Lunchables - (2M pieces) Packaging: Estimated pack-out 35MM.
The Facts:
Pokemon doubles the time period share delivery from one year ago across all its key kid's demographics. The average delivery
of Pokemon in the 76 markets airing the show in November 1998 is far above its lead-in average. Pokemon more than doubles
its lead-in rating across every single key kids demographic. In almost every demographic, Pokemon ranks No.1 in its time
period in more than half of the 79 total telecasts of the show. Leading with K6-11 it ranked No.1 66% of its 79 telecasts. In
the 25 markets with October rating books, Pokemon has grown in both rating and share from the strong average performance
it garnered in October 1998.
Headquartered in New York, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIDE - news) 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, involved in the production of programming for television; and Summit
Media, involved in domestic and international television distribution, media buying and planning
biz.yahoo.com
this release looks very promising :)
David |
