Hasbro Doubles Programming Portfolio

NEW YORK/MUNICH, May 14:
In a $7-million-deal with TV-Loonland, toy giant Hasbro has reacquired the
global distribution rights to the Hasbro Classics library, doubling the size of
its content catalogue.

According to Hasbro, the
agreement covers almost 1,000 episodes of content based on key toy brands like
G.I. Joe, Transformers, My Little Pony and Mr. Potato Head. This acquisition
increases Hasbro’s content library to nearly 2,000 episodes of programming
covering 30-plus brands. The Hasbro Classics library, part of the Sunbow
catalogue, was originally acquired by TV-Loonland in 2000 from Sony BMG.

“As we deliver new
immersive entertainment experiences to audiences worldwide, it was extremely
important that we had the rights to fully control the usage of our intellectual
properties,” said Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s COO. “Entertainment is becoming
increasingly important in helping us to strengthen and build our brands
globally, and this will enable us to engage consumers in new and exciting
ways.”

Simon Flamank, the CEO of
TV-Loonland, commented, "Given the life cycle of any property and also
Hasbro's future plans for the distribution and exploitation of those
properties, this was a deal that perfectly fitted both parties' commercial
objectives. For TV-Loonland AG, this deal not only allows us to repay the
greater majority of all of our outstanding debt, it also provides us with the
platform from which to take further commercial decisions regarding the future
direction of the group and the new properties that we have been
developing."

—By Mansha Daswani