DreamWorksTV, a division of Awesomeness that creates family-friendly digital content distributed via YouTube, partners with Amazon to launch its first subscription offering. The individual OTT network will offer exclusive programming including Schneck & Eck Crack The Case, Action Figures In Action, Secret Agent Challenge, and Neighborhood Super Watch. Global streaming … [Read more...] about Streaming & Experiential Power Up
Articles
Company Spotlight: On Scaling Niche to Mass
Since filing for an IPO last year, Funko has released some of its financial data and offered a few key insights on the fast-growing, ever-volatile market for pop culture collectible merchandise. Here are some of the top takeaways and most interesting tidbits gleaned from a licensee generating around $800 million in licensed retail sales a year. While the company seems to … [Read more...] about Company Spotlight: On Scaling Niche to Mass
Franchises Drive Comics Sales in 2017
According to ICv2 and NPD BookScan, the top-selling comic book titles of 2017 hailed from the '80s—two 30-year-old volumes were the best-selling superhero titles of the year. Marvel’s top new title was Black Panther Book 1 and DC Comics’ top new titles were the collections of the Rebirth launches of Batman and The Flash. Twelve of the top 20 best-selling superhero titles of … [Read more...] about Franchises Drive Comics Sales in 2017
Publishing Driven by Kids; General Market Softens
Retail sales of licensed publishing—including books, comics, and magazines—reached over $3.7 million in the U.S./Canada for 2016. Meanwhile, the general sector has relatively soft performance that continued into 2017. Unit sales of print books were up 1.9% in the U.S. in 2017, continuing the modest single-digit growth book sales have seen over the past few years, according to … [Read more...] about Publishing Driven by Kids; General Market Softens
Who’s News—1/29/2018
Are you hiring—or being promoted, changing jobs, retiring, launching a new company, or otherwise changing your employment? Email Jen at jen@plainlanguagemedia.com and we'll announce the news in our next issue of Who's News. Mark Kingston is promoted to SVP Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products. Mark will be based in London, reporting to CMO Pam Kaufman. In … [Read more...] about Who’s News—1/29/2018
Sports: A Closer Look
Licensed retail sales of sports-based merchandise grew 4.3% in 2016 to reach $15.4 billion in the U.S./Canada—the sixth straight year of sustained growth. This year, it remains to be seen if this kind of momentum can be sustained, at least in the first quarter—in part because the impact of the two biggest sporting events, the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics, remains … [Read more...] about Sports: A Closer Look
Entertaining Deals & Experiences
Bells are ringing for the latest royal marriage, this time between Nick Jr. and Thomas & Friends. A new agreement between parents Mattel and Nickelodeon will see new seasons of Thomas & Friends premiere on the kid's channel, with specials set to air on the Nickelodeon network throughout the year. Nick will also serve as Mattel's exclusive U.S. agent for Thomas merch … [Read more...] about Entertaining Deals & Experiences
Retail Sales, Partnerships & M&A
The U.S. Commerce Department released its first estimate for Q4 GPD, which increased at an annualized rate of 2.6%—and consumer spending, which was up by 3.8% and saw its fastest growth rate in over a year. A successful holiday season, however, means that retailers are also having trouble restocking shelves. A report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that businesses are … [Read more...] about Retail Sales, Partnerships & M&A
It’s Getting Crowded: A Census of Licensors
Over 2,500 unique companies own and license out intellectual property for branded consumer goods in the U.S./Canada. TLL breaks down the numbers behind the Licensing Sourcebook to discover where the money is—and for which property types the field is getting crowded. Please note that this breakdown won't tell you the relative size of the licensing business—after all, it doesn't … [Read more...] about It’s Getting Crowded: A Census of Licensors
Most Valuable Brands: Celebrity & Sports Top-Earners
On average, a licensed property will generate $7.53 million in retail sales a year within the U.S./Canada—according to data from TLL's Annual Licensing Business Survey and the Licensing Sourcebook. The most valuable brands—as determined by calculating the total number of properties owned by licensors in the Licensing Sourcebook relative to licensed retail sales in the … [Read more...] about Most Valuable Brands: Celebrity & Sports Top-Earners