By Marcy Magiera Toys based on movie, TV and other entertainment content licenses will push U.S. toy sales to growth of 7.0% in 2016, the market's fastest growth this century, predicts The NPD Group. U.S. toy sales grew a stellar 7.5% in the first half of this year, outpacing first-half growth in 2015, when full-year growth ended up at 6.7%, according to NPD. The biggest … [Read more...] about Star Wars Blasts Toy Industry Growth to Century High
Disney
Who’s News
Adam Berg joins The Valen Group as VP Strategic Brand Licensing. Vans appoints Doug Palladini to the position of Global Brand President. Cathryn Summerhayes is joining Curtis Brown as an Agent effective Sept. 1st. Golden Bear promotes Barry Hughes to Managing Director. Hasbro acquires Boulder Media; the animation studio now reports to Stephen Davis, Chief Content Officer … [Read more...] about Who’s News
The Language of Licensing
By Karina Masolova The language of licensing is slowly shifting to reflect new practices and perceptions. To this end, TLL surveyed our readers to gauge the extent of these changes—and while the implications for the business are not necessarily immediate or obvious, they run deep and true. Walking the floor of Licensing Expo 2016, it was clear that there exists a strict … [Read more...] about The Language of Licensing
Top Entertainment/Character Properties Drive Comics Sales Above $1 Billion
Pow! Retail sales of comics and graphic novels in the U.S. and Canada grew 10% in 2015, passing $1 billion for the first time in decades, driven by top entertainment/character properties including Star Wars. The new market size analysis comes from comic book data specialist Comichron and online retail trade magazine ICv2 just before giant Comic-Con International opens next … [Read more...] about Top Entertainment/Character Properties Drive Comics Sales Above $1 Billion
New Players Enter the eSports Area
By Karina Masolova Turner's Cartoon Network EMEA is the latest company to enter the eSports arena with a single elimination live tournament based on its upcoming mobile game app Adventure Time Card Wars Kingdom in partnership with Machinima. Let's Play Flooping Card Wars! will stream on Machinima's Twitch channel on July 15, when four of the gaming culture site's top … [Read more...] about New Players Enter the eSports Area
Licensed Properties Play at E3
Seventy thousand-plus people, including 20,000 fans, flocked to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles last week for the digital entertainment industry's annual parade of video game properties, both new and well known. The hot topic of the show was Virtual Reality (VR) with Sony announcing that its PlayStation VR headset for PS4 will become available Oct. 13, … [Read more...] about Licensed Properties Play at E3
Entertainment/Character Once Again Fastest-Growing Property Type in 2015
By Marcy Magiera Entertainment/character licensing put on a display of superhero strength and speed in 2015, growing 8.0% to dash past $11 billion in retail sales in the U.S. and Canada, according to The Licensing Letter’s Annual Licensing Business Survey. It was the property type’s third consecutive year of notable growth: after five years of decline from 2008 through 2012, … [Read more...] about Entertainment/Character Once Again Fastest-Growing Property Type in 2015
Star Wars’ Direct Path to the Top of Entertainment/Character
By Marcy Magiera The following is an excerpt from TLL’s feature story on entertainment/character licensed brands. See the complete run-down here, including retail sales by product category and retail distribution. Like the entire entertainment/character universe, which began to grow in 2013 but really took off in 2014, Frozen was introduced with the Disney film in 2013, but … [Read more...] about Star Wars’ Direct Path to the Top of Entertainment/Character
Who’s News
Corus Entertainment appoints Pam Westman to the role of Head of Nelvana Enterprises. Turner EMEA promotes Tarek Mounir to VP & GM Turkey, Middle East, North Africa, Greece and Cyprus. Meanwhile, Cecilia Persson is promoted to VP Programming/Content Strategy Kids EMEA, Acquisitions & Co-Production Intl. Perry Ellis names George Feldenkreis Executive Chairman of the … [Read more...] about Who’s News
Who’s News
James Pitaro is now Chairman of Disney Consumer Products & Interactive Media as Leslie Ferraro departs. Kirsten Fallon has been appointed as Director on the LMCA’s NY HQ staff. VIMN promotes Claire O'Connor to VP Consumer Products in Asia, Australia and New Zealand Xilam grows with Marie-Laure Marchand, who will head up global consumer products at the French animation … [Read more...] about Who’s News