Holiday Fun Continues Throughout Month of December with Themed
Programming, the Premiere of Preschool Musical on Two Sticks, and
the Annual Snooze-a-Thon
Philadelphia, PA - December 1, 2009 - Sprout, the first 24-hour
preschool destination available on TV, on demand and online for
kids ages 2-5 and their parents and caregivers, is celebrating the
holiday season by welcoming everybody's favorite furry red monster,
Sesame Street®'s Elmo, to the Sunshine Barn on Tuesday, December
15, 2009 from 9 a.m. - noon ET.
Elmo will appear live on The Sunny Side Up Show, along with host
Sean and his puppet friend Chica the Chicken, to take calls from
Sprout viewers, read birthday cards, and send out holiday wishes to
families all over the country. This is a very special event
for Sprout, as it marks the first live appearance of Emmy
Award-winning performer and producer Kevin Clash, who is Sesame
Street's Muppet Captain and force behind Elmo.
"We are delighted to have Elmo join us this holiday season on
Sprout," said Andrew Beecham, senior vice president, programming at
Sprout. "We can't imagine a more perfect guest to help get
everyone into the holiday spirit."
And the fun doesn't stop there. Holiday themed programming
will begin airing this same week, culminating on Christmas Eve with
the premiere of Sprout's half-hour original special, Preschool
Musical on Two Sticks (the follow-up to last year's Preschool
Musical on a Stick) at 5:30 p.m. ET, followed by the third annual
Snooze-a-Thon, featuring 12 uninterrupted hours of "keep 'em
asleep" programming from 6:00 p.m. ET straight through to 6:00 a.m.
ET Christmas morning.
Preschool Musical on Two Sticks features all of Sprout's
favorite original characters as stick puppets in a pop-up book
world, as well as a special appearance by The Wiggles. The
popular Snooze-a-Thon will once again feature host Nina and her
puppet sidekick Star from The Good Night Show® snoozing comfortably
on the set, along with clips of beloved characters from preschool
favorites like Sesame Street®, Dragon Tales™ and Berenstain Bears™
catching some zzz's. So, no matter what time of night the
kids are up checking for the sound of reindeer hooves on the roof,
parents can tune into Sprout to show them that even their favorite
television friends are fast asleep waiting for Santa to arrive.
"Parents have told us that bedtime is the most challenging time
of day, and getting children settled in on Christmas Eve can be
even more difficult," said Beecham. "We help parents wind
down their kids every night with The Good Night Show, but wanted to
do something unique and fun for this special evening."
For additional information on Sprout programs or schedules, or
to play games, download free coloring pages or find great
activities for kids, visit SproutOnline.com. To find out
where Sprout is available in your area, call 1.8.SPROUT.411 or go
to SproutPlease.com.
About Sprout®
PBS KIDS Sprout, the first 24-hour preschool destination available
on TV, on demand and online for kids ages 2-5 and their parents and
caregivers, was created as a partnership among Comcast Corporation,
HIT Entertainment, PBS and Sesame Workshop. Since debuting
its video on demand (VOD) service in April 2005, Sprout has become
the #1 On Demand service for younger children, generating over half
a billion views. The 24-hour digital channel, which launched
in September 2005 along with the website (SproutOnline.com), is the
only channel that follows the day of child from breakfast to
bedtime with its distinctive programming. Currently, Sprout
is available in 48 million unique households.
The network's program lineup of gold-standard, curriculum-based
children's shows includes: Sesame Street®, Bob the Builder™,
Barney & Friends™, The Wiggles®, Thomas & Friends™,
Angelina Ballerina™, Caillou®, The Berenstain Bears™, Dragon
Tales™, Make Way For Noddy™, Fireman Sam™, Fifi and the Flowertots™
and more.
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Press Contact:
Jenni Glenn
Sprout
215-286-2703
jenni_glenn@sproutonline.com