HiT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turner Laing. Orton alone took over the company in 1989 upon learning Henson's intent to sell the company to The Walt Disney Company. HIT owned and distributed children's television series such as ''Thomas & Friends'', ''Fireman Sam'', ''Bob the Builder'', ''Pingu'', ''Barney & Friends'', and ''Angelina Ballerina''.

HIT Entertainment was one of several partner companies, alongside NBCUniversal, PBS, and Sesame Workshop, that founded PBS Kids Sprout, with many of HIT's shows airing on the channel as a result at the time.

On 1 February 2012, HIT Entertainment was acquired by Mattel, as Mattel was initially only interested in the ''Thomas & Friends'' brand in its acquisition, according to ''Deadline Hollywood''. Mattel absorbed the company on 31 March 2016 into its then newly created division, Mattel Creations.

History

1982–1990: Beginning and early years

Peter Orton had met Jim Henson when he was at the Children's Television Workshop handling distribution of ''Sesame Street''. As a result, he became close friends with Henson and went to work with him in 1981. Together, they set up Henson International Television, which was the international distribution arm of Jim Henson Productions the following year, with Orton becoming the company's CEO.

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, the company head, Orton and other employees at Henson International Television convinced Henson to allow them to spin off the distribution arm as an independent distribution company. Henson agreed, and Orton led a management buyout of the Henson International Television division from Henson in 1989, forming a new company named HIT Communications PLC.

1990–1999: Becoming independent

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. Helping to fund the company was an investment by British satellite and cable television operator 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 Allen, Texas-based 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.

A new character came to the company's attention in 1996, when advertising executive and would-be cartoonist Keith Chapman pitched his idea to HIT Entertainment. Chapman's character was a little builder named Bob the Builder. While a number of other producers had turned down the idea, HIT recognized its potential and bought the rights to developing the Bob the Builder character into a television series.

With another offering in 1997, HIT increased its capitalization and move to the primary London Stock Exchange, whose funding HIT would use 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
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