Who owns hit entertainment

Through its HIT Wildlife division, the company is also a leading producer of wildlife and nature programming. TV, which acquired The Jim Henson Company in and then ran into financial problems, was seeking a buyer for its new acquisition.

Having formerly worked for the Children's Television Workshop, and then following Muppets creator Jim Henson into the formation of The Jim Henson Company, Orton became head of Henson International Television, the company's international distribution arm.

When Disney began talks to acquire The Jim Henson Company in the late s, Orton and other employees at Henson International Television convinced Jim Henson to allow them to spin off the distribution arm as an independent distribution company.

Henson agreed, and Orton persuaded his coworkers in Henson International Television 'to hold hands and jump off the cliff,' as Orton told the Independent. HIT's business initially remained limited to distributing character properties. Other popular programs financed and distributed by HIT Entertainment included animated features based on classic children's books such as Wind in the Willows and the Peter Rabbit books.

In the early s, HIT began to branch out into programming production, notably with the formation of a new division, HIT Wildlife, in The new division began producing wildlife and nature-oriented programming. HIT Wildlife rose to become one of the company's chief revenue generators, claiming as much as 35 percent of the company's sales by the mids.

As Orton pointed out to Kids TV , 'With wildlife [series], you can dub them and they carry no cultural baggage. Usually, if a drama is sold to 15 or 20 markets, that's a lot, but these series can go to many more. HIT's foray into nature-oriented programming quickly gave it a taste for production in its other core area, that of children's programs, and particularly programs for the preschool market. That market had been undergoing dramatic changes since the days when Orton's former employer's Muppets, and especially their initial vehicle, Sesame Street, ruled the toddler set.

The appearance of a new character--a purple dinosaur named Barney--in the late s had opened an entire new category of children's programming. Created by Sheryl Leach, reportedly in order to entertain her hyperactive child, the Barney character was to sweep the preschool set off its feet, and became one of the most popular and highest-selling characters of all time.

HIT was able to become part of the Barney phenomenon by handling international distribution activities for the character. The success of Barney and the growing popularity of other preschool directed characters, which were later to include such unusual stars as the Teletubbies, encouraged HIT to begin production of its own stable of characters. Instead of simply distributing characters and their series, HIT now sought to become involved in their development--not only producing television programs, videos, and films, but also in controlling lucrative licensing activities.

In order to fund this transition, the company went public, listing its shares on London's AIM market in A new character came to the company's attention in , when advertising executive and would-be cartoonist Keith Chapman pitched his idea to HIT Entertainment. You must be logged in to post a comment. At the end of every week I look at the key stories, offering my view on what they mean for you and the industry. Here is my take. When everyone was talking about Messi, Budweiser and Copa90 created a campaign that would ensure the drinks brand was seen as more than just a mere part of the conversation.

Hit Entertainment has been privately owned by London buyout firm Apax Partners since HiT was originally formed as Henson International Television hit! This subsidiary was later sold and retains none of the original Henson company architecture except for the name. It later rebranded itself as " HiT Entertainment ". After HiT purchased Gullane, it produced their own series of Thomas episodes and merchandise. Mattel Playground Productions was closed later that year, but reformed as Mattel Films.

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