HIT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment Ltd. (styled "HiT") was a British-American entertainment company originally established in 1982 as Henson International Television (formerly styled "hit!"). It was founded as the international distribution arm of Jim Henson Productions. HIT owned and distributed children's television series such as Barney & Friends, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends, Pingu, Fireman Sam and Angelina Ballerina.

1980s
Henson International Television was founded in 1982 by Jim Henson, Peter Orton and Sophie Turner Laing as a distribution company for children's, teens' and family television. Orton had met Henson when he was at the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), handling distribution of Sesame Street. Henson hired Orton in 1981 to set up the company.

Jim Henson Productions started negotiations with The Walt Disney Company regarding a possible purchase of the company in the late 1980s. Because of these negotiations, Henson International Television head Orton led a management buyout of the Henson International Television division from Henson in 1989, forming a new company named HiT Communications PLC.

HiT continued distributing programming by initially signing popular British series Postman Pat and the long-running Alvin and the Chipmunks series. The company then financed and distributed animated feature films based on the Wind in the Willows and Peter Rabbit books.

1990s
In 1990, Flextech took a 23% share in HiT for about £600,000. The HiT Wildlife division was set up to produce nature and wildlife programming which provided the company with 35% of its revenue by the mid-1990s.

HiT also handled international distribution for Barney & Friends, produced by Lyrick Studios. With the success of Barney, HiT began to develop its own programming. In 1996, HiT was listed on the AIM to raise funding; it used the funding to launch HiT Video that produced direct-to-video programming in the UK. HiT purchased the television rights for Keith Chapman’s Bob the Builder and started production on the series.

With another offering in 1997, HiT increased its capitalization and move to the primary London Stock Exchange. HIT used this funding to develop some of its first original series, including Brambly Hedge, Percy the Park Keeper, and Kipper, which became its first hit on ITV.

In 1998, HIT formed its own animation production company, Hot Animation, and its Consumers Product Division. The BBC agreed to broadcast Bob the Builder. HiT signed a series of American broadcasting deals starting with Nickelodeon for Kipper and expanded to Starz/Encore (Brambly Hedge and Percy the Park Keeper series), HBO Family (Anthony Ant cartoon series) and Animal Planet channel (Wylands Ocean World wildlife program). Kipper won the 1998 BAFTA award for Best Children's Animation. At the end of the year, HIT offered another group of shares.

In 1999 HiT had 10 first-run TV series in the United States and started an American subsidiary. In April, Bob the Builder successfully debuted on the BBC, and in July the company made another public offering of stock. An American deal for Bob was signed in December with Nickelodeon to start airing in January 2001. Mattel signed a five-year licensing agreement for the development of the Angelina Ballerina series.

2000–2004
In January 2000, the company split its shares five-for-one. HiT which had been looking for an acquisition, began talks with Thomas the Tank Engine owner, Britt Allcroft. The deal fell apart as they could not agree on a price. Bob the Builder continued its success with the number one record in December.

HiT acquired Lyrick Studios in February 2001 while selling Lyrick's money losing publishing operations and extending its Barney-PBS deal. In May, the first Bob the Builder video was released in the United States, while the company signed a deal with Sears to have "Bob Shops" in their retail stores. The Henson Company's owner EM.TV was in financial trouble over its purchase of 50% share in Formula One racing rights, and HiT joined a number of companies willing to purchase Henson. In October 2001, HiT's bid for Pingu BV was accepted.

In April 2002, HIT Entertainment sold their wildlife division to the newly formed Parthenon Entertainment, which was owned by the former managing director of Hit Wildlife, Carl Hall. 30 hours of programming in production and its 300-hour library was transferred in the Management buyout agreement.

After two years of bids from HiT, Gullane Entertainment's board agreed to be purchased for £139million. The television shows owned by Gullane included, Thomas & Friends, Magic Adventures of Mumfie, and Fireman Sam (brought the rights from Bumper Films, in 2002). August 2002, HIT Entertainment Canada, Inc. official opened its office in Toronto.

In March 2003, CCI Entertainment acquired HiT's stake in CCI (part of the Gullane Purchase) and Gullane library rights in Canada. HiT’s next TV-show Rubbadubbers aired in September.

On April 1, 2004, HiT and The Jim Henson Company agreed to a five-year global distribution and production deal which included distribution of 440 hours of the Henson Company's remaining library, including Fraggle Rock, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, The Hoobs and Jim Henson's Mother Goose Stories. In addition, the agreement also included the production of new properties, including Frances, in which both companies co-produced. Both companies co-owned the copyright to the series. While firing its chief executive Rob Lawes in October 2004, the company announced its launching of PBS Kids Sprout with partners PBS, Comcast and Sesame Workshop.

2006–2011
In 2006, HiT closed its DVD sales and distribution arm in the US and contracted with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment for DVD distribution. HiT continued to sell and distribute its own DVD output in the UK.

In September 2007, the corporation and Chellomedia formed a joint venture to run the JimJam children's channel. HiT Entertainment opened its own toy company called The HiT Toy Company.

In 2008, HiT hired Jeffrey D. Dunn, formerly of Nickelodeon, as chief executive and moved DVD distribution from 20th Century Fox to Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Dunn drove the company to create new characters, including Mike the Knight, and to revitalize existing brands. In February, HiT sold the Guinness World Records brand, acquired with Gullane Entertainment, to Ripley Entertainment. They also sold the rights to the Sooty characters and properties to his current presenter, Richard Cadell. HiT had put the rights to Sooty up for sale in October 2007.

In March 2009, HiT Entertainment started its HiT Movies division based in Los Angeles, with Julia Pistor as division head. Its purpose was to create films based on the company's franchises. The division's first planned film adaptation was a live-action Thomas & Friends film, scheduled for late 2010.

In early 2010, HiT licensed Thomas & Friends to Mattel for toys. By August, the company withdrew from the JimJam joint venture, but agreed to continue providing programming.

Franchises
Coming Soon!