HiT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment Limited (also known as Mattel Television) is a British-American entertainment company owned by Mattel and originally established in 1982 as Henson International Television. HiT is known for its globally successful brands including Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Barney & Friends and Pingu.

The company was originally established in 1982 as Henson International Television by Jim Henson and Peter Orton, and became a division of Jim Henson Productions to distribute The Muppets and Fraggle Rock in the United Kingdom. This subsidiary was later sold to Peter Orton and remains none of the original Henson company material; accept for the name HiT (for Henson International Television).

They acquired several companies to produce and distribute a larger list of cartoons. In March 2001, HiT acquired Lyrick Studios for $275-million, which gave them ownership of Barney and Wisbone; In October 2001, HiT bought the German-Swiss company Pingu-BV (now The Pygos Group); In July 2002, HiT Entertainment acquired the London-based Gullane Entertainment, which gave them the ownership rights to several popular TV-shows and was there biggest acquisition (Thomas & Friends and Fireman Sam).