Chorion Foreign Sales
05 November 2003 - 1:21AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:6595R
Chorion PLC
04 November 2003
Noddy takes English to the world's children
Chorion announces first US$1.5 million of sales from new Noddy educational
products in just six months since launch
Tuesday, 04 November 2003 -- Chorion PLC (LSE: COR), owners and developers of
intellectual property, today heralded the global success of two new educational
programmes for children featuring Enid Blyton's much-loved character Noddy.
Learn English with Noddy and Noddy Early Learning were developed by Chorion in
conjunction with leading educational experts and launched earlier this year.
In the first six months Chorion has earned in excess of US$1.5 million in
minimum guarantees from publishers or licensees in just four countries in Asia.
Chorion confidently predicts further significant revenues both from these
markets and in other international territories. The character has global
recognition; Enid Blyton's original Noddy books have been translated into 40
languages and more than two million Noddy books are sold worldwide every year.
The English as a Foreign Language (EFL) market is a multi-billion dollar
industry which, in Japan alone is estimated to be worth US$2bn at retail and
there is increasing demand for programmes that can introduce spoken English to
pre-school and primary age children.
Most existing products however are not character-based. Chorion attributes the
success of its two programmes to a belief that the global market for
character-led early learning products remains largely untapped.
Nicholas James, Chief Executive of Chorion, said:
"Enid Blyton, a school teacher herself, believed that children should learn
through having fun. The international appeal of Noddy gives Chorion the unique
ability to anchor early learning programmes around an internationally-recognised
and respected childhood brand. Noddy makes the learning experience more fun for
children, thereby increasing the educational value of the character for parents
and children."
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For further information please call:
Andrew Sholl
Portland, for Chorion
020 7404 5344
07736 364656
Notes to Editors
1. Chorion PLC is an owner and developer of intellectual property, with the
rights to key properties such as Noddy, The Famous Five, Miss Marple, Poirot
and Maigret.
2. Learn English With Noddy and Noddy Early Learning reinforce key educational
skills through familiarity and fun. Both programmes are carefully structured
to enable the child to interact with the content through the medium of their
favourite character by means of video, audio, storybooks, flash cards and
CDs.
3. Rights to Learn English With Noddy have been sold to educational publishers
in Hong Kong and Taiwan (MIT or Multiple Intelligence Technology), where it
will launch in Q1 2004; South Korea (YBM), Malaysia (Ezra Sanders). Rights
to Noddy Early Learning have also been sold to MIT for the Hong Kong and
Taiwan markets.
4. Learn English With Noddy and Noddy Early Learning were created by Chorion in
close co-operation with leading English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and
pre-school learning experts Professor Jack Lonergan, Professor of Applied
Linguistics at the University of Westminster, and Joe Hambrook, originator
of the BBC's "Muzzy" pre-school language series.
5. The CGI-animated series Make Way For Noddy, which airs in the UK on Five, is
a worldwide hit. It has been sold to 20 country markets including Canada,
Australia, France and Belgium (where he is known as Oui Oui), Hong Kong,
Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Israel, the Philippines and Portugal.
Key Facts About English as a Foreign Language
1. English is spoken as a first language by around 375 million people; around
750 million people are believed to speak English as a foreign language
(British Council).
2. It is estimated that more than one billion people are learning English
worldwide (British Council).
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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