HIT Entertainment Names Amazon As Exclusive U.S. Home for Globally Prominent Kids Franchise Across All Entertainment Content and Consumer Products
NEW YORK, June 2, 2014—HIT Entertainment, one of the world’s leading preschool entertainment companies and a division of Fisher-Price, today announced that Amazon will be the exclusive U.S. home to the popular preschool franchise Fireman Sam®, bringing TV episodes, eBooks, as well as physical products from apparel to toys to lunch boxes to Amazon.com, all of which will be available with fast, free shipping and free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime. In addition to merchandise, the popular Fireman Sam TV episodes will be available to stream or download in Amazon Instant Video, Prime Instant Video, and FreeTime Unlimited. Amazon’s Fireman Sam content hub debuts on June 3rd, and HIT and Amazon will introduce Fireman Sam consumer products in the US for the first time later this year.
“With the ever evolving experience that families have with digital media, our consumers expect more and our business demands it,” said Sid Mathur, VP HIT Entertainment, The Americas. “Working with Amazon, we have the perfect platform to create a new experience that gives fans one place to experience the franchise. This new agreement takes Fireman Sam fans through the entire consumer journey from first engaging with the brand through content on their Kindle Fire or Amazon Fire TV to fulfilling the demand for a deeper brand experience via books, toys and more.”
“We’re thrilled to exclusively bring the popular Fireman Sam merchandise and digital content to Amazon customers,” said Peter Larsen Vice President, Product Management, Amazon. “We’re always looking for ways to make parents’ lives easier and now there’s no more convenient place in the world for kids to experience their favorite Fireman Sam content. We’re excited to be working with such a forward-thinking partner in this space.”
Amazon and HIT Entertainment have created a great online avenue to conveniently find and purchase popular kids products in a massively digital world. With the Fireman Sam launch, Amazon and HIT Entertainment are creating a new brand distribution model, pairing the entire offerings of a globally loved children’s property with a global retail platform. Building on its successes with Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Mom and FreeTime Unlimited, Amazon continues to provide more services and products with families in mind.
Everybody’s ultimate hero next door Fireman Sam has been racing to the rescue of his friends and colleagues in all sorts of perilous situations for over 25 years. Based in the Welsh village of Pontypandy, Fireman Sam is a pillar of the community and the hero of every rescue. The series continues to be top rated globally airing in more than 60 languages with market awareness in more than 100 countries. Fireman Sam is a top rated boys’ preschool show in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Benelux, Israel and Poland, and the #5 preschool toy license in the UK (NPD). On YouTube, Fireman Sam has secured more than 65 million global views.
About Amazon.com
Amazon opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by three principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.
About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading preschool entertainment companies, specializing in building powerful brands based on engaging stories. HIT Entertainment’s world-class portfolio includes Thomas & Friends®, Mike the Knight™, Fireman Sam®, Bob the Builder, Barney®, Angelina Ballerina®, Pingu® and Rainbow Magic®.
HIT Entertainment excels at creating and building globally successful brands which capture the hearts and imaginations of preschoolers and their families. This is achieved through exceptional storytelling in multiple formats, enhanced by creating high quality character-based products and experiences with best-in-class partners. HIT Entertainment’s lines of business span television and home entertainment production, content distribution, digital media, publishing, consumer products and live events and attractions. HIT Entertainment, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. (Nasdaq:MAT), has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. For more information visit www.hitentertainment.com
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Noelle Dong \ HIT Entertainment PR
T: 646.467.5336 \ ndong@hitentertainment.com
Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
www.amazon.com/pr