New York, NY – December 9, 2008 – HIT Entertainment, a leading provider of quality children’s entertainment, The Jim Henson Company, original creators of the series and world-renowned for producing innovative and groundbreaking family programming, and TELETOON, Canada’s national network for animated entertainment, have partnered to launch The Jim Henson Company’s iconic series, Fraggle Rock™ on TELETOON Retro. TELETOON Retro, dedicated to classic cartoons, is Canada’s largest digital specialty channel with over 5 million subscribers. This is the first time that HIT Entertainment has partnered with the network.

The TELETOON Retro English channel has committed to airing the first season of Fraggle Rock™. Fraggle Rock™ premiered on TELETOON Retro on September 1, and airs daily at 9 am and 7:30 pm. For more information about Fraggle Rock on TELETOON Retro, visit teletoon.com.

Fraggle Rock is a wonderfully inventive series, starring a diverse and quirky group of cave-dwelling creatures who share adventures and misadventures in a subterranean community. The world of Fraggle Rock is a unique place where three different, yet surprisingly similar, communities learn to live and work in harmony. The Fraggles love to sing and dance, work just thirty minutes a week and spend most of their days dancing their cares away. They are joined by their industrious neighbors, the Doozers, tiny green drones that build elaborate structures the Fraggles find irresistibly tasty; and the Gorgs, giant creatures who live in the garden above Fraggle Rock guarding their cherished radish patch. Through the fun of the Fraggles – Red, Gobo, Wembley, Boober, Mokey – and the unique mix of music, from folk, blues and gospel to country and rock, the series entertains and encourages an understanding and embracing of diversity.

“What better way to mark Fraggle Rock’s 25th Anniversary than a launch on TELETOON Retro?” said Andrea Carpenter, Vice President, HIT Entertainment, Canada. “The network, with its loyal following of both kids and adults, is the perfect home for Fraggle Rock – a timeless series that tackles timely topics like diversity and the environment. We are confident that parents will love sharing the antics of the fun Fraggles with their children!”

“Since it originally aired, audiences of all ages around the world continue to ‘discover’ Fraggle Rock and claim it as their own,” said Peter Schube, President and COO of The Jim Henson Company. “Canadian viewers have remained among the series’ strongest supporters and partnering with HIT and TELETOON Retro is a fantastic opportunity to allow a new group of children to meet these characters while longtime fans can revisit this magical world.”

“Our audience adores Fraggle Rock, and we are so pleased to have the show in the TELETOON Retro line up”, said Carole Bonneau, VP Programming TELETOON. “With its collection of diverse characters and engaging storylines that speak to viewers of all ages, Fraggle Rock has stood test of time to remain one of the most unique series on television, even after 25 years.”

This November, HIT and Lion Cub Films Inc. released for the first time on DVD all four seasons of Fraggle Rock in a limited edition, fully loaded collectible set of the entire award-winning series.

About TELETOON Retro
Available in both English and French, TELETOON Retro presents classic cartoons all day, everyday. A nostalgic throwback to favourites of the past, TELETOON Retro delivers new laughs with familiar friends in over five-million Canadian homes. TELETOON Canada brings kids, youth and adults the best in animated entertainment with four nationwide specialty television channels, TELETOON, TÉLÉTOON, and TELETOON Retro. Founded in 1997, TELETOON Canada inc. is owned by Astral Media (50%) and Corus Entertainment (50%)

About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment, owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners, is one of the world’s leading independent children’s entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT’s portfolio includes properties, such as Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment’s Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America and Japan, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™ and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations. HIT also acts as a worldwide representative for The Jim Henson Company’s library of classic family brands and as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS SproutSM, and international preschool channel JimJam, (outside of the US, UK and China). For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.

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The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 50 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include the Emmy nominated “Sid the Science Kid,” “Dinosaur Train,” “Wilson & Ditch: Digging America” and “Pajanimals.” Features include “The Dark Crystal,” “Labyrinth,” “MirrorMask,” and “Unstable Fables” and television productions include “Fraggle Rock” and the sci-fi cult series “Farscape.”

With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot complete with soundstage and potproduction facilities. Independently owned and operated by the five adult children of founder Jim Henson, the Company is also home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage equipment. The Company’s Henson Alternative brand has recently launched the national tour of “Stuffed and Unstrung,” a live puppet improvisational show named one of the top 10 “Best Stage Shows of 2010” by Entertainment Weekly. 

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