Thomas & Friends

TV Kids Weekly, February 13,
2007

NAME: Thomas & Friends

ORIGIN: Thomas & Friends
was first brought to life by the Reverend Wilfred Awdry when he sought to
entertain his young son Christopher while he was recovering from the measles.
Awdry had grown up listening to the puffing of nearby steam engines at Box Station
and had imagined their conversations. Never doubting that engines had
personalities, he used this inspiration to create stories to tell his son. When
his son pointed out that details in the stories were inconsistent and would
allow no deviation, Awdry wrote the stories down on scraps of paper. His
companion illustrations included pictures of the engines with little faces on
them, each with a distinguished look; one smiling, one stern, one cross, one
sad.

Awdry had never considered
publishing his stories until his wife encouraged him to submit his work to a
literary agent and in 1945 the first series, The Three Railway Engines, was published.

More books followed at yearly
intervals and after writing and publishing 26 Thomas the Tank Engine books, Awdry retired with Tramway Engines. Soon after, his son Christopher continued in his father's
tracks and began creating railway stories for his own young son, Richard, and
in 1983 published his first book, Really Useful Engines.

Now in its 62nd year, Thomas
& Friends continues to delight and
entertain preschoolers around the world.

CREATOR: The Reverend Wilfred Awdry

TV SHOW: The Thomas & Friends television series is live-action animation. There are 286
episodes in total. Series 1 to 7 are 5-minute episodes, and 8 to 11 are
10-minute episodes. There is a one-hour special available, with another in
production.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Christopher Skala; producer: Simon Spencer

MAIN BROADCASTERS: In the U.K., Thomas & Friends is available on Five and Nick Jr.; in the U.S. on PBS KIBS
and PBS KIDS Sprout. The series also airs on Super RTL (Germany), Antena 3 and
Veo (Spain), Disney Channel (France and Italy), Nickelodeon (the Netherlands
and Belgium), Minimax (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Romania), DRTV
(Denmark) and TV2 (Norway).

TV SALES: Thomas & Friends
is broadcast around the world in more than 150 countries and in 30 languages.

MAJOR TOY LICENSEES: TOMY, RC2, Lego, Character World, World’s Apart,
Mothercare, Marks & Spencer, Sportsworld, Martin Yaffe, Vivid, Wesco,
Wedgewood, Zak, Trademark & Shreds, Gemma International, Portico, Amscan,
Pyramid, Megabrands, Club Rugs, Little Tikes, Leisurebrands

OTHER PRODUCTS: HIT licenses the Thomas & Friends brand across all product categories around the world.

In the U.K., throughout 2007,
several new ranges of product will be launched. TOMY will be releasing new toys
including Musical Bubble Thomas, a new Motor Road & Rail Set, six new wind
up Thomas characters to add to the current range, and five new engines from
Series 1000. RC2 will be launching the Thomas Wooden Railway with 11 new
vehicles and engines as well as new accessories and nine new Take Along Thomas
vehicles, three new play sets and a Sodor Deluxe Island Adventure Centre.
Golden Bear will be launching a Drive Away Thomas, Draw & Drive and new
characters to be added to the existing Thomas line. Hornby will launch a new
engine, Emily. And finally, MV Sports will be launching a Steer & Go Trike
and a Backpack Cycle Safety set.

STRATEGY FOR ROLL OUT: “Now in its 62nd year, Thomas & Friends continues to endure both as a television property and as a
licensed toy brand,” says Marie Chappelow, the VP of rights syndication for
Europe, the Middle East and Africa at HIT Entertainment. “This much-loved preschool
character has a traditional quality that is unparalleled in our industry today.
With television sales in over 150 territories and translated into over 30
languages, Thomas remains a truly
classic, evergreen brand. We have recently expanded Thomas’ terrestrial presence in key markets including Spain on
Antena 3, Benelux on Nickelodeon and in Hungary on Minimax, to name a few. HIT
remains committed to working closely with our broadcasting and licensing
partners to market Thomas with fresh
programming and innovative consumer products for preschoolers around the world.”