Perry White
02-28-2002, 07:58 PM
4Kids Entertainment's Animated Television Series YU-GI-OH! To Expand To 6 Days A Week On Kids' WB!
Roll-Out Campaign for Trading Card Games, Videos Games and Toys<a href="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/yugioh1.jpg" target="_blank">
<img border="0" src="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/t-yugioh1.jpg" alt="Yu-Gi-Oh!" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="3" width="181" height="125"></a>NEW YORK, NY February 28, 2002 - 4Kids Entertainment (NYSE:KDE) announced today that the animated television series YU-GI-OH! will expand to six days a week on Kids' WB!, starting April 1, 2002, when it begins airing on the Monday-Friday afternoon lineup, in addition to its regular Saturday morning time period.
The property, which was licensed to Kids' WB! by 4Kids Entertainment, was created in Japan and made its network debut on Kids' WB! in September 2001.
The decision to expand YU-GI-OH! from a weekly Saturday morning broadcast to six days a week follows the series' strong performance as the #1 Saturday morning broadcast program in its 11:30AM ET/10:30AM PT time period and one of the top 10 broadcast programs in the key demographics Kids 2-11, Kids 6-11, Boys 2-11, Boys 6-11 and Tweens Kids 9-14, and Male Tweens 9-14.
<a href="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/yugioh2.jpg" target="_blank">
<img border="0" src="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/t-yugioh2.jpg" alt="Yu-Gi-Oh!" align="left" hspace="5" vspace="3" width="173" height="125"></a>Al Kahn, 4Kids Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are very excited that YU-GI-OH! will soon be broadcast Monday-Saturday on Kids' WB! We expect that Upper Deck will be releasing Starter packs and Booster packs of YU-GI-OH! trading cards next week and Konami's new YU-GI-OH! video game titles for Playstation and Nintendo GameBoy will be released mid March. Master toy licensee Mattel will be shipping its first YU-GI-OH! products in April."
4Kids also announced that it has licensed television broadcast rights for YU-GI-OH! in major international markets. YU-GI-OH! recently began airing in the United Kingdom on BskyB and Nickelodeon UK. It is expected that in 2002, YU-GI-OH! will debut on M6 and Canal J in France, RTL2 in Germany, Mediaset in Italy and Nickelodeon in Spain and Latin America.
"With all these positive developments, YU-GI-OH!! is rapidly becoming the property to watch," said 4Kids Chairman and CEO Al Kahn.
<a href="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/yugioh3.jpg" target="_blank">
<img border="0" src="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/t-yugioh3.jpg" alt="Yu-Gi-Oh!" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="3" width="125" height="153"></a>YU-GI-OH!, based on the comic book series, follows the adventures of Yugi and his best buddies -- Joey, Tristan and Tea -- who spend most of their free time playing the coolest new game ever..."Duel Monsters." The game allows them to challenge their minds using logic and strategy while players pair up different mystical creatures with one another in wild, magical duels. When Yugi's Grandfather gave Yugi an ancient Egyptian puzzle to solve called the "Millennium Puzzle," Yugi pieced the puzzle together and was infused with incredible mystical powers. With the help of his friends, his belief in the heart of the cards and the mysterious power of his Millennium Puzzle -- Yugi sets out on the adventure of a lifetime!
About 4Kids Entertainment:
Headquartered in New York City with international offices in London, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) is a global provider of children's entertainment and merchandise licensing. 4Kids, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provides domestic and international merchandise licensing and product development, television, film, music and home video production and distribution, media buying and planning and website development. For further information, please visit the company's Web site at www.4kidsEntertainmentInc.com.
Roll-Out Campaign for Trading Card Games, Videos Games and Toys<a href="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/yugioh1.jpg" target="_blank">
<img border="0" src="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/t-yugioh1.jpg" alt="Yu-Gi-Oh!" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="3" width="181" height="125"></a>NEW YORK, NY February 28, 2002 - 4Kids Entertainment (NYSE:KDE) announced today that the animated television series YU-GI-OH! will expand to six days a week on Kids' WB!, starting April 1, 2002, when it begins airing on the Monday-Friday afternoon lineup, in addition to its regular Saturday morning time period.
The property, which was licensed to Kids' WB! by 4Kids Entertainment, was created in Japan and made its network debut on Kids' WB! in September 2001.
The decision to expand YU-GI-OH! from a weekly Saturday morning broadcast to six days a week follows the series' strong performance as the #1 Saturday morning broadcast program in its 11:30AM ET/10:30AM PT time period and one of the top 10 broadcast programs in the key demographics Kids 2-11, Kids 6-11, Boys 2-11, Boys 6-11 and Tweens Kids 9-14, and Male Tweens 9-14.
<a href="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/yugioh2.jpg" target="_blank">
<img border="0" src="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/t-yugioh2.jpg" alt="Yu-Gi-Oh!" align="left" hspace="5" vspace="3" width="173" height="125"></a>Al Kahn, 4Kids Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are very excited that YU-GI-OH! will soon be broadcast Monday-Saturday on Kids' WB! We expect that Upper Deck will be releasing Starter packs and Booster packs of YU-GI-OH! trading cards next week and Konami's new YU-GI-OH! video game titles for Playstation and Nintendo GameBoy will be released mid March. Master toy licensee Mattel will be shipping its first YU-GI-OH! products in April."
4Kids also announced that it has licensed television broadcast rights for YU-GI-OH! in major international markets. YU-GI-OH! recently began airing in the United Kingdom on BskyB and Nickelodeon UK. It is expected that in 2002, YU-GI-OH! will debut on M6 and Canal J in France, RTL2 in Germany, Mediaset in Italy and Nickelodeon in Spain and Latin America.
"With all these positive developments, YU-GI-OH!! is rapidly becoming the property to watch," said 4Kids Chairman and CEO Al Kahn.
<a href="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/yugioh3.jpg" target="_blank">
<img border="0" src="http://www.toonzone.net/shows/images/kidswb/t-yugioh3.jpg" alt="Yu-Gi-Oh!" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="3" width="125" height="153"></a>YU-GI-OH!, based on the comic book series, follows the adventures of Yugi and his best buddies -- Joey, Tristan and Tea -- who spend most of their free time playing the coolest new game ever..."Duel Monsters." The game allows them to challenge their minds using logic and strategy while players pair up different mystical creatures with one another in wild, magical duels. When Yugi's Grandfather gave Yugi an ancient Egyptian puzzle to solve called the "Millennium Puzzle," Yugi pieced the puzzle together and was infused with incredible mystical powers. With the help of his friends, his belief in the heart of the cards and the mysterious power of his Millennium Puzzle -- Yugi sets out on the adventure of a lifetime!
About 4Kids Entertainment:
Headquartered in New York City with international offices in London, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) is a global provider of children's entertainment and merchandise licensing. 4Kids, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provides domestic and international merchandise licensing and product development, television, film, music and home video production and distribution, media buying and planning and website development. For further information, please visit the company's Web site at www.4kidsEntertainmentInc.com.