The Licensing Letter

Articles

M&A And Lawsuits

Jet.com, which was acquired by Walmart for $3.3 billion in September, buys out apparel and accessories site Shoebuy.com for $70 million from IAC. The e-tailer is a direct competitor of Amazon.The United Kingdom Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) approves VTech's acquisition of educational toy firm LeapFrog, stating that the deal will not lead to competition … [Read more...] about M&A And Lawsuits

Chinese Housing Boom Propels Licensed Home Sales

The Chinese real estate market continues to grow into 2017, despite government measures to curb home prices and avoid a housing bubble. Average home prices are projected to increase 4.1% year-on-year and property investment could grow by 5.4% in 2017, according to Reuters, citing a state-owned newspaper report. Meanwhile, new construction is expected to grow by 6.2%, according … [Read more...] about Chinese Housing Boom Propels Licensed Home Sales

Who’s News

Open call Looking to hire or be hired? Contact our business development team to feature your listing on TLL. Just want to feature your new hires? Contact editorial. Ben Cox joins Nickelodeon as new VP & GM ANZ. Cox is responsible for the day-to-day management of all Nick brands in the region. Sarah Levy is appointed to the newly created role of COO for Viacom’s global … [Read more...] about Who’s News

Super Saturday, Online Sales Brighten Holiday Ledgers

Although Americans are starting to shop for their holiday gifts earlier in the year, that doesn't mean that they're finishing earlier. The National Retail Federation estimated that 155.7 million people would head to stores on Dec. 17th, the last Saturday before Christmas (compared to 99 million shoppers over the Thanksgiving weekend). Although the real figure is somewhat … [Read more...] about Super Saturday, Online Sales Brighten Holiday Ledgers

Star Wars, Barbie, and Hachimals Top Holiday Toys

While overall holiday sales were expected to increase just 3.4%, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that toy sales will grow 6.5% for the last six months of 2016. The NRF points to games and puzzles as the fastest-growing category (up 16%), followed by dolls and action figures (12% each). While interest in family games like Hasbro's Speak Out and Pie Face are one … [Read more...] about Star Wars, Barbie, and Hachimals Top Holiday Toys

CES Highlights

Some of the most interesting innovations to come out of CES 2017 embrace this year's top each trends—including voice-activated AI assistants (Amazon's Alexa takes the lead based on the number of products using the tech), self-driving cars, even bigger and thinner display screens (including TVs whose width is just under 4 mm and curved screens on laptops), and robots. Mattel … [Read more...] about CES Highlights

Year in Review: Licensing at the Speed of Light

2016 is set to be the sixth year of solid growth in licensed retail sales—a record matched only by the 13 years of straight growth TLL observed when we first started tracking industry sales in 1978. After surpassing $103.3 million in licensed retail sales in 2015 in the U.S. and Canada, 2016 will be only the third year in which retail sales cleared $100 million. Worldwide, … [Read more...] about Year in Review: Licensing at the Speed of Light

TLL’s Top Headlines of 2016

As we enter the New Year, TLL recaps our most-read stories of 2016. Ready to take a walk down memory lane—and see what you missed? Planned Feature Films with Licensing Potential [TLL Chart]. Our regularly updated list of upcoming feature films with licensing potential had many readers checking in throughout the year to see what's been added, removed, and updated since last … [Read more...] about TLL’s Top Headlines of 2016

Content Creators

The digital media and entertainment division of Alibaba will invest $7.2 billion in new content over the next three years. The CEO of Alibaba’s Digital Media and Entertainment Group, Yu Yongfu wrote in an internal email—the figure was later confirmed by a company spokesperson—that “he didn’t come to play,” according to Reuters. A+E Networks acquires a majority stake in South … [Read more...] about Content Creators

Who’s News

Open call Looking to hire or be hired? Contact our business development team to feature your listing on TLL. Just want to feature your new hires? Contact editorial. LEGO is getting a new CEO (its first non-Dane!) as Bali Padda takes over from Jorgen Vig Knudstrop, who becomes the company's chairman. As part of the shuffle, Knudstrop will also become chairman of a new entity … [Read more...] about Who’s News