Press Releases & News Briefs

BARNEY™ TO APPEAR LIVE ON SPROUT® FOR “DINO-MITE” VALENTINE’S DAY EVENT

Everybody’s favorite purple dinosaur, Barney, to appear LIVE on The Sunny Side Up Show, Monday, February 14 from 9 a.m. – noon ET

Followed by the three-hour "Sprout's Dino-Mite Valentine's Sing-A-Long" block from noon - 3:00 p.m. ET, featuring songs and crafts from Barney and Dorothy the Dinosaur, one of the most beloved characters from the premier children's entertainers, The Wiggles

Philadelphia, PA - February 7, 2011 -24-hour preschool television channel Sprout is celebrating Valentine's Day with an event of "preschool-historic" proportion.  Barney™ the Dinosaur will appear live on Sprout's The Sunny Side Up Show on Monday morning, February 14 from 9 a.m. - noon ET where he will be responding to Valentine's Day voicemails, emails and video questions sent in from viewers all across the country.  Following the live appearance, "Sprout's Dino-Mite Valentine's Sing-A-Long" will air from noon - 3:00 p.m. ET.  This three-hour block will feature Barney and Dorothy the Dinosaur as they sing songs about love and friendship, showcase special themed crafts, and share Valentine's Day messages.

Popular Barney songs, such as the classic "I Love You" and the instantly catchy "Dino Dance," were re-recorded as duets with both Barney and Dorothy for this special sing-a-long event.  Sprout viewers will also enjoy select, friendship-themed episodes from both dinos' respective series catalogs. 

"We are excited to have Barney appearing live on Sprout for Valentine's Day," said Andrew Beecham, senior vice president, programming, Sprout.  "The Sunny Side Up Show is television's only live show for preschoolers and the only place where parents and kids can interact real-time with their favorite characters."

"Visiting Sprout and spending time with Sproutlets is one of my favorite things to do, and everything's better with friends, so this is sure to be a tee-rific event," said Barney.  "I am so excited to sing songs, play games and celebrate one of my favorite holidays - Valentine's Day -with my good friend Dorothy."

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®
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, and is on track to reach one billion orders in 2010.  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 over 50 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™, Fireman Sam™, Fifi and the Flowertots™, dirtgirlworld and more.

About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment's Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™, Timmy Time™ and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations.  HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT's lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan.   HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS SproutSM.  For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.

About The Wiggles
The Wiggles, the world's #1 preschool entertainers, performed over 350 shows to more than 1.5 million fans since 2005 in the United States alone.  The Wiggles perform over 200 shows annually across four continents.  The Wiggles are seen on TV in over 120 countries worldwide.  Fans can catch The Wiggles on television exclusively in the U.S. on 24-hour preschool network Sprout as hosts of Sprout's Wiggly Waffle, which airs every weekday morning from 6:00 - 9:00 a.m. ET. The Wiggles have sold more than 23 million DVDS and videos, 7 million CDs and 8 million books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. You can also follow the gang on Twitter via Twitter.com/ItsWiggleTime or become a fan of their official Facebook page Facebook.com/TheWiggles.


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Press Contacts:
Rebecca Owens
Sprout
215-286-8894
rebecca_owens@sproutonline.com 

Noelle Dong
HIT Entertainment
646-467-5336
ndong@hitentertainment.com

Alicia McAllister
Rob Bailey Communications
201-760-0200
amcallister@rbcpr.com