Ragdoll Ltd and BBC Worldwide To Set Up New Joint Venture Ragdoll Worldwide Ltd

Ragdoll Ltd and BBC Worldwide To Set Up New Joint Venture Ragdoll Worldwide Ltd

Ragdoll and BBC Worldwide Create New Venture to Manage and Exploit Ragdoll Catalog Including Teletubbies, In The Night Garden, Brum and Boohbah

NEW YORK, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- In the run-up to Teletubbies 10th year celebrations, Ragdoll, the creators of the now iconic show, and BBC Worldwide have come together to form an exciting joint venture. The new company, Ragdoll Worldwide Ltd, will secure the creativity of Ragdoll as it moves into the next stage of its commercial life alongside its long term and most successful commercial partner, BBC Worldwide.

As well as exploiting the current catalog of Ragdoll programming, the joint venture will launch two new exciting properties, In the Night Garden and Tronji, which Ragdoll are now in the final stages of completing. Both In the Night Garden, a pre-school property to be launched at MIPCOM in Cannes next month, and the CG/live-action program Tronji are scheduled to air in the UK on BBC in 2007.

BBC Worldwide will manage the international broadcast sales and the UK and international licensing of all Ragdoll properties including: Blips, Boohbah, Brum, Tots TV, Rosie and Jim and the Open a Door series on behalf of the new joint venture. Ragdoll retains all UK broadcast rights and Ragdoll USA Inc, part of the new joint venture, will manage the Ragdoll portfolio in North America.

"Ragdoll is pleased to further strengthen its unique relationship with BBC Worldwide," said Mark Hollingsworth, Commercial Director of Ragdoll. "Creating a vehicle that is equally owned by and managed with BBC Worldwide allows both organizations to collaborate and capitalize on our respective strengths around the world. I am certain that the creation of Ragdoll Worldwide will result in additional exposure and awareness of the Ragdoll brand globally," he added.

BBC Worldwide's Managing Director for Children's and Global TV Sales, Mark Young said: "This is an important development for BBC Worldwide as it secures one of our most important relationships in the Children's business in advance of the launch of their new slate of fantastic properties. Ragdoll and BBC Worldwide have had a long and successful partnership going back over a decade. I am proud that Anne Wood* and her world-beating innovative creative team believe that a commercial partnership with BBC Worldwide under this joint venture offers Ragdoll great opportunities for the future."

*Anne Wood is Founder and Creative Director of Ragdoll Ltd

For further information contact:

Alison Grand, Grand Communications (for Ragdoll Ltd) email: alison@grandcommunications.com or Tel: 212 584-1133

Mary Renouf, BBC Worldwide email: Mary.Renouf@bbc.co.uk or Tel: + 44 208 433 2596

Notes to Editors:

About Ragdoll Ltd.

Ragdoll, a privately owned family company was founded by acclaimed children's television program maker, Anne Wood, in 1984. Ragdoll has produced more than 1,400 programs aimed at the youngest viewers. Ragdoll-produced series can be seen in more than 120 countries and territories around the world, and in the UK are screened by the BBC, ITV and Five. Ragdoll and its children's programming, including the phenomenally successful Teletubbies, the super-brave superhero Brum, those mischievous ragdolls Rosie and Jim, the adventures of Tots TV, the imaginative and magical Boohbah, and Open a Door, have achieved international recognition. Ragdoll's latest series, Blips, premiered in the UK on CiTV from 2005. Currently Ragdoll is in production with two new commissions for BBC Television for broadcast in the UK in 2007, In the Night Garden and Tronji. Ragdoll's US office in New York is responsible for introducing and managing these innovative Ragdoll properties in North America.

For more information on Ragdoll Ltd, visit http://www.ragdoll.co.uk/

About BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The company exists to maximize the value of the BBC's assets for the benefit of the license payer and invest in public service programming in return for rights. The company has seven core businesses: Global Channels, Global TV Sales, Magazines, Content & Production, Home Entertainment, Children's and Digital Media. In 2005/06 BBC Worldwide generated profits of 89 million pounds Sterling on sales of 784 million pounds.

For more information on BBC Worldwide, visit http://www.bbcworldwide.com/

Source: Ragdoll Ltd; BBC Worldwide

CONTACT: Alison Grand, Grand Communications (for Ragdoll Ltd),
email: alison@grandcommunications.com or Tel: +1-212-584-1133; or Mary Renouf,
BBC Worldwide, email: Mary.Renouf@bbc.co.uk or Tel: +44-208-433-2596

Web site: http://www.ragdoll.co.uk/
http://www.bbcworldwide.com/

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