EM.TV to Sell Muppets to Jim Henson's Children for $89 Million

[Buck-Beaver]

I haven't been online much lately, so the first I heard about this was in the Financial Post (which carried the Reuters wire story). I know the Henson kids took heat for the decision to sell 3 years ago, but I don't think that was caused by greed - I think they genuinely wanted the Muppets to be real players in a media world that was (at that time) all about convergence.

Now hindsight is 20/20 - we know it was lousy deal but EMTV did dump alot of "fringe" assets the company didn't need like the TV channels. Jim Henson Co. is back to what it does best - merchandising and production - and that's a very good thing.

A few things I think they need to address:

- They definately need a solid distribution partner. A feature film deal (I don't believe the company actually has one currently) would also help.

- They need to get the Muppets on TV. The JHC has a reputation for charging rediculously high licensing fees to TV channels. This is based on information I got a few years ago (I've heard this from more than one former performer who rarely gets royalty cheques from distributors because the shows are not sold that much), but I believe the practices have not changed much. The Muppet programming is often expensive to buy. They need to get the Muppets out there in an smart, strategic way and that won't happen unless they cut some good deals with broadcasters. The rerun programming could even be treated as a loss leader that drives the overall Muppet "brand." Is there any other company in the world sitting on more quality, under0utlized programming than JHC? It's almost as bad as the pre-Eisner management style at Disney.

Muppet Show reruns on one of the major US cable networks would be a very good start (they are coming to Canada in the fall on CTS). The show should also be running in the UK as well. A good idea would be to strike a special promotional deal with a network that will run several of the series and movies on a regular basis. New, original interstials could be done with the classic characters. Paramount has employed this strategy to great success with ST:TNG on the New TNN.

- More original projects. Ya gotta keep the kids (and adults) interested!

Well, that's my two cents worth. Overall though I'm tickled pink!

Way to go Henson family!

 

[muppet_dk]

Originally posted by TheDude
I would like to backtrack a bit though. In talking of all this buying/selling back and forth. Jim orginally sold the muppets to disney because he trusted Eisner....

The deal that Disney and Jim was working on did never happend. When Jim died the deal was cancelled. So Disney has never bought the muppets.

 

[Chinchilla]

I want STOCK!

I hope they make stock publicly available. I would SO love to own just one little share. Just one. Just one teeeny weeny piece of the magic.

 

[Raech]

I don't care if Disney has trouble with it. If they can't understand the kids need to own their Dad's company they can pund sand.

 

[Manda:-D]

*Does best Balky impression*
Come, Cousin Larry, it is time to do the Dance of Joy!!!!!!
*Gets up and does the Dance of Joy all around the room*

*Cheerleader Manda does split & shakes pom-poms in the air*
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!

Can you tell I'm happy about this?

The Henson children carry on their father's legacy!!!!! As Beaker said, this could be the beginning of a New Era!!!!!!
I'm aquiver with anticipation!!!!!!!!

 

[Beauregard]

I think this has some quotes from Brian that were before unquoted here.

-----------------

Posted on Thu, May. 08, 2003

It is easy being green
BY JULIA WERDIGIER
Bloomberg News

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Muppets creator Jim Henson's children will pay $78 million to buy back a piece of the puppet franchise they sold three years ago to EM.TV & Merchandising AG, a Germany media company seeking to reduce debt.

The acquisition will return the rights to Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog to the children of Jim Henson, who died in 1990. Other Henson creations -- the Sesame Street characters Elmo and Big Bird -- have already been sold and aren't among the assets his children are buying back.

EM.TV sold the rights to those characters in late 2000, and Jim Henson Co. hasn't turned a profit since, said Brian Henson, who is buying the company along with his brother, John, and sisters Lisa, Cheryl and Heather. Miss Piggy and Kermit are as recognizable as Mickey Mouse, he said.

Those characters ''were and still are this company's core assets,'' said Brian Henson, 39. ``We have to be able to grow that as a business again.''

The assets being sold include The Muppets, The Muppet Babies, The Fraggles, The Hoobs, Farscape and Bear in the Big Blue House, Brian Henson said in a statement.

EM.TV will use the $78 million, plus $11 million in cash on Jim Henson Co.'s balance sheet, to pay debt that piled up after the company expanded beyond the business of making children's films. EM.TV paid $680 million for Jim Henson Co. in early 2000, most of it in stock. The sale of the Sesame Street characters to the Children's Television Workshop brought in about $287 million, EM.TV Chief Financial Officer Andreas Pres said Wednesday.

EM.TV, which also owns merchandising rights to the 2006 World Cup soccer tournament, amassed debt expanding into Formula One car racing under former Chief Executive Thomas Haffa.

The $78 million price for the Jim Henson Co. assets ''is somewhat disappointing, though it mirrors the crisis in the media industry,'' said Florian Leinauer, an analyst at Helaba Trust GmbH, who rates EM.TV's stock ``underweight.''

''I'm satisfied that this is a very good price,'' Brian Henson said. 'I'd like to think that in three years people will look back and say, `Wow, that was a terrific price.' ''

The sale comes two months after EM.TV canceled an agreement to sell a 49.9 percent stake in Jim Henson Co. to Dean Valentine, a former head of Viacom's UPN TV network.

Other companies that voiced interest in the Muppets included Walt Disney Co., London-based Entertainment Rights Plc, closely held Classic Media and U.S. investor Haim Saban, German newspapers reported.

Jim Henson founded his self-named company in 1958, inventing the term ''muppet'' as a cross between the words marionette and puppet.

This report was supplemented with material from the Associated Press.

-------------------

So there you have it.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Originally posted by Beauregard
So there you have it.

And I'll take it!!

YAY!! I'm still VERY joyous over all this!!

 

[Koozbanian Foob]

Wow! You know what...Wow!

I'm sorry for being so late to respond, but this has been an unusually busy week. I has been keeping up on everything however, reading each and every news article I could find. In the end, all I can say is...

I'm so I could !

Why?

I'm an optimist. At least, I am when it comes to Jim Henson, his creations and his legacy. I believe in the dream, as corny as it sounds. When I watch the Muppet Movie or read books like "The Wisdom of Big Bird", I really feel like they're talking to me personally. I've wanted to do and be alot of things in my life, but the one thing I've always dreamed of doing is working with the Muppets. I have to believe that an idea, a concept, as exciting as the Muppets are, must not only endure, but prosper.

Such things only happen in the presence of talented people who care about their product. The Henson Family have proven to be those kind of people.

I don't imagine for a moment that it's all peaches and cream from here on out. I do think we have a solid foundation for a rebirth of the company however, and a promising future.

Kudos to the Henson Kids and to all of us who believed in singing and dancing and making people happy.

'Til next time...

 

[Luke]

Originally posted by Patty
http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=3743#post374
Funny to read in retrospect.

Thanks for posting that link Patty - yeah it had been mentioned as not being completely impossible that the Kids could buy back the company but personally i always just brushed it off, they'd done well out of EMTV and i didn't think they'd compete with people like Disney and Sony but wow - they pulled it off which was completely unexpected and unplanned. I'm happy that considering the circumstances (Disney pulling out) Henson's children are in control of his legacy - Rivkin is great (and i hope he stays as CEO or General Manager) but JHC was beginning to feel like any other indie production company without the direct Henson involvement so at least the whole family element is back in the company.

What i'm really not happy and dissapointed with is that this news almost certainly means the Muppets will spend a few more years like they have been since Jim died - mediocre at best. I truly believe the Muppets could have come back in a big way and the time is sorta right, but it needs a massive media company with all the facilities, cash and resources to bring that about. Unfortunately it isn't possible for a small indie producer like JHC - the Muppet brand isn't strong enough and the bigger media companies like Disney would want to own the rights to anything they really put their weight behind - there's far too less money around to start putting it in other peoples 'creative' pockets. The Henson kids KNOW this, it's why they wanted Disney to win but i totally respect their decision to protect the characters from the mess other smaller companies would have made.

So where does it go from now ? Well, i've been reading all these comments and most are completely unrealistic. Jamie and Nate seem to have the right idea. For those who think this is the start of a new era ? I really doubt it! Brian Henson has said himself, this puts them back to exactly how they were running the company for the 10 years before EMTV. For those who think they are going to rehire all the staff, buy back Sesame, remake Fraggle, start a cable TV company or even partner with Disney ? Ain't gonna happen ! The Henson Company now has LESS money than they did under EMTV, and LESS ways to bring money into the company than before (few shows on air, no distribution income from Sesame, hardly anything decent in development). This was done so quickly the Henson kids don't even have much in the way of plans as to what they will do yet.

I think the best possible outcome is we'll see more of the same, and the good work that Rivkin has done over the last few years in the way of promotion and licensing being built upon. They have said themselves they have no plans to expand and they will continue to seek co-production deals. I really doubt Disney will touch them for a while now, at best i think we'll see the Columbia deal renewed and maybe a 1 movie deal added onto it with the possibility of others if the first doesn't go belly up. Other production deals are likely to come from people like Fox and NBC rather than Warners or Disney like has been implied - these people want to make money from their OWN stuff. I don't see any greater push than usual to get Fraggle & TMS back on air as they were already being touted by EMTV with no takers. I do hope the Fox show will make it to air but i think Fox is wrong for them, it might make it past a whole season, maybe not. Fox views puppets as a quick nostalgia hit and an alternative to animation, they do stick with cheaper shows that aren;t doing well but the Muppets aren't cheap. I think the direction of the Muppets should be family orientated with a slight edge, NBC would be best for a weekly show so i hope they build on the relationship with them. I think licensing is Henson's strongest area right now and they'll likely continue that way - we might even see a Muppetfest in mid-2004 to support that push.

I completely love the Muppets and respect the kids (it would be great to see Lisa and Heather getting more involved) but i do feel Brian needs to take a step back and just do what he does best and go make a Farscape movie or something. The Muppets need fresh new talent and Team Todd and others have that - i really hope Brian doesn't step in their way. Reading between the lines of the press release it seems they see it the same way i do - it's dissapointing they had to step in the way they did - the Muppets were on the virge of BIG things and it'll take nothing short of a miracle for them to bring that about on their own. The future is still very uncertain - if JHC do a few new projects and they bomb it'll be very hard for the Henson Kids to continue funding the company on their own so in a few years they could be forced to sell again or retire the characters to protect them and we could all be back here for EMTV round two.

On a final note - it's interesting to see what happened with Disney. I remember saying tons of times that the reason i thought they would go for just the characters and library was that they wouldn't want to get involved in all the German politics and trouble that going for a full aquisition of JHC would mean and it's funny that seeing as EMTV were taking so long to put just that on the plate for them it was ultimately the reason Disney walked away - so in some ways EMTV screwed the Muppets of big things yet again !

So yeah, my prediction is basically 'more of the same' and things haven't gone too badly over the last few years so i'm sure lots of people will be happy with that !!!!

 

[BoyRaisin2]

I knew you'd say something interesting, Luke.