Licensing Show Kicks Off in New York

NEW YORK, June 21: Licensing 2006 International opened at
the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City yesterday with
expectations of more than 23,000 attendees from 100-plus markets.

Licensed products represent $175 billion in retail sales
worldwide, according to the market’s organizers. There will be more than 500
exhibitors at the event this week trying to secure a bigger piece of that pie,
with more than 6,000 properties on offer. Among the content owners with a
significant presence at the event are the Hollywood studios, kids’ outfits such
as Nickelodeon, 4Kids Entertainment, Sesame Workshop and DIC Entertainment;
anime producer and distributor VIZ Media, plus Discovery, A&E Television
Networks and FremantleMedia, among others. Entertainment is the largest
category in licensing with more than $60 billion in worldwide retail sales.