Character Regulatory News (CCT)

29 Jan 2008 07:01

Character Group PLC29 January 2008 Issued by Citigate Dewe Rogerson Ltd, BirminghamDate: Tuesday, 29 January 2008 Embargoed: 7.00am The Character Group plc Major New Toy Licence secured for Hannah Montana Products to be unveiled tomorrow at The UK Toy Fair The Character Group is pleased to announce that its principal trading subsidiaryCharacter Options Limited ("Character Options") has secured a major new toylicence with The Walt Disney Company Limited ("Disney") in relation to thehighly successful Disney Channel television series, Hannah Montana, which hasjust finished airing on the Channel Five and continues to air on the DisneyChannel daily. The Disney rights with Character Options will initially cover the UK and Eireterritories and will allow the Group to manufacture and distribute a wide rangeof products which include a digital range of wireless and karaoke microphonesand interactive MP3 & Karaoke systems, MP3 Sound system, Digitone watches and arange of cosmetic accessories. Starring Miley Cyrus, and her father Billy Ray Cyrus (the 1980's country musicstar of hit "Achey, Breaky Heart" fame), Hannah Montana follows the daily lifeof Miley Stewart, a 14-year-old who lives in Malibu with her older brother andwidowed father. A normal girl by day, unbeknown to her friends, Miley lives adouble life as pop star Hannah Montana, keeping her identity a secret. Richard King, Chairman The Character Group commented:"We are very pleased to have secured the rights to Hannah Montana. This is avery popular series aimed at "tweenagers" who love music and fashion. We areconfident that our range of products which has been developed in-house and willbe unveiled at tomorrow's UK Toy Fair at Excel London, will meet the demands ofboth the retailer and the consumer. We look forward to launching the full rangeof Hannah Montana products and expect to enjoy the benefit of the sales fromthis great girls brand through to Christmas and beyond." Hannah Montana smashed all records when it premiered in the UK on 5 May 2006,making it the best live action series launch ever on Disney Channel. The show iscurrently Disney Channel's Number 1 UK live action show. The show premiered inthe United States to the highest series ratings in the channel's history with astaggering 5.4 million viewers and has become the Number 1 cable show amongsttweens. Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds is the first TV series soundtrack todebut at Number 1 on the Billboard Top 200. In the UK, it was the first TVsoundtrack to achieve pole position since High School Musical topped the chartsin 2006, achieving Gold in the UK and Platinum in Ireland. Enquiries:Richard King, Executive ChairmanKiran Shah, Group Finance Director & Joint MD Fiona Tooley, DirectorThe Character Group plc Citigate Dewe RogersonTel: +44 (0) 20 8949 5898 Tel: +44 (0) 121 455 8370Mobile: +44 (0) 7956 278522 (KS) Mobile: +44 (0) 7785 703523 (FMT) +44 (0) 7836 250150 (RK)www.thecharacter.comwww.character-online.co.uk Richard Thompson / Philip DaviesCharles Stanley Securities (Nominated Adviser)Tel: +44 (0) 20 7149 6000 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange