Character Regulatory News (CCT)

8 Jun 2007 10:27

Character Group PLC08 June 2007 Issued by Citigate Dewe Rogerson Ltd, BirminghamDate: Friday, 8 June 2007 IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Character Group plc ("Group" or "Character Group" or the "Company") Character awarded new BBC Worldwide deal The Board of Character is delighted to announce that BBC Worldwide has awardedthe Master Toy Licence for the hugely successful Impossible Pictures seriesPrimeval to Character Options, the Group's trading subsidiary. Since its appointment by Impossible Pictures as the programme's internationaldistributor and merchandising agent, BBC Worldwide has secured television salesfor the Primeval series in 20 territories, with further deals still to beannounced. Richard Hollis, BBC Head of UK Licensing, said: "Character's ability atmodelling and marketing monstrous creatures using amazing technology makes themthe ideal partner for us on Primeval and we are delighted to have theopportunity to work with Impossible Pictures on this exciting series.' Primeval, an Impossible Pictures production for ITV, ProSieben and M6, is ascience fiction drama, which has been renewed for a second series in 2008, andfollows a team of scientists battling terrifying prehistoric creatures that areslipping into the modern world through anomalies in time. Character Options is one of the UK's largest toy companies and has enjoyedimmense success alongside BBC Worldwide through its Doctor Who range ofproducts, winning a number of awards and selling well over 1.7 million figureslast year alone. The first series of Primeval which started earlier this year, achieved anaverage rating of almost 6.5 million viewers for each of the first six episodesand this success is expected to continue in 2008. Jon Diver, Joint Managing Director at Character Group, added: "We are delightedto have been awarded the Master Toy Licence for the toys relating to thissuccessful series, for which the ratings speak for themselves, reflecting theshow's success as great Saturday night family viewing. "We will be producing an extensive line of exciting products that will include aDragonfly Rex and Agnurognathus which will be available from this October andwill be TV advertised, followed by a number of other action figures andcreatures from series one and two being released in January 2008." For more information on Primeval visit http://primeval.itv.com/ For further information please contact Mary Renouf, mary.renouf@bbc.co.uk (0208433 2596) or Deepa Vyas, deepa.vyas@bbc.co.uk (020 8433 1328). Enquiries:Richard King, ChairmanKiran Shah, Group Finance Director Richard Thompson & Joint MD Fiona Tooley, Director Philip DaviesThe Character Group plc Citigate Dewe Rogerson Charles Stanley SecuritiesTel: +44 (0)20 8949 5898 Tel: +44 (0)121 455 8370 Tel: +44 (0)20 7149 6000Mobile: +44 (0)7836 250150 (RK) Mobile: +44 (0)7785 703523Mobile: +44 (0)7956 278522 (KS) Notes to Editors: BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiaryof the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The company exists to maximisethe value of the BBC's assets for the benefit of the licence payer and invest inpublic service programming in return for rights. The company has six corebusinesses: Global Channels, Global TV Sales, Magazines, Content & Production,Home Entertainment and Digital Media. In 2005/06 BBC Worldwide generated profitsof £89 million on sales of £784 million. The Character Group plc designs, develops and distributes toys, games andgiftware, principally to the UK although it has an increasing exposure tointernational markets. Revenues are generated from a mix of product ranges, with over 70% designed anddeveloped in-house, either under the Group's own brand or under licence, withthe balance being derived from third party distribution. Notable product linesare Doctor Who, Scooby Doo, Biker Mice from Mars, Peppa Pig, GR8 Gear,Robosapien, Roboraptor and Robopet. For a more comprehensive view of the productportfolio, please refer to www.characteronline.comwww.thecharacter.comCCT.L: Sector: Media, AIM Impossible Pictures is an independent television production company based in theUK and founded by its directors, Tim Haines and Jasper James, the award winningcreators of Walking With Dinosaurs and Walking With Beasts. They specialise inhigh impact factual and drama for primetime. Recent productions includePrehistoric Park and Primeval for ITV and Ocean Odyssey for BBC. Impossible Pictures is a world leader in bringing CGI and big-budget specialeffects to the small screen and delivering spectacular productions to majorbroadcasters worldwide. Whatever the subject matter, their stamp is an ambitious approach. www.impossiblepictures.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange