The Saddle Club - the tween TV brand phenomenon gallops ahead

The Saddle Club, a Crawford Productions (Australia) and Protocol Entertainment (Canada) co production, which has mesmerised the viewing of young Australian girls since its inception in 2001 returns to ABC-TV on Monday evenings, 5.30 p.m. from September 15.

With the second series, The Saddle Club is established as one of Australia's hottest tween brands. The Australian brand franchise now includes the smash TV series, home video series, Gold soundtrack albums, book series, toys and accessories. The Saddle Club Magazine and the hugely popular website, saddleclubtv.com are top youth performers while the new Saddle Club fashion range, just launched in major Australian department stores is one of the fastest growing girls fashion brands in this market. The property also features some of the most sought after toys, games and manchester for girls 5-12.

Combining the universal elements of friendship and adventure and featuring contemporary multi-national girls and their love of horses and riding, the show delivers a wholesome, fresh and aspirational lifestyle. The Saddle Club , which is shot in Melbourne and the Yarra Valley in Victoria, has been quietly racking up a string of successes including:

The Saddle Club Ratings: delivered an average 75% share (peaking at 95% in the Sydney market) of all 5-12 y.o. "The Saddle Club continues to be one of the strongest programs in the ABCKids schedule on ABC TV in 2003. The show has a unique ability to attract a broad audience from 5 to 15 years and surprisingly not all of them are girls!" said Deirdre Brennan, ABC Kids Programmer ABC TV (Australia).

The Saddle Club Website: 5.8 million hits (August 03) positioning it as one of Australia's top tween/youth performers.

The Saddle Club Video: The best-selling tween video of 02 and ABC TV stores No. 1 video for 02 (extraordinary figure given it was only launched in Oct. 02). Video series launched in the US in 02 has sold over 400,000 units.

The Saddle Club CD: 1st single, 'Hello World' (released Oct 02): Platinum after 36 weeks in Australia's Top 50. Album 'Fun for Everyone' (Oct 02)Gold with 35,000 sales in 2 months. New Album 'On Top of the World' released May 03Gold within 6 weeks. Single 'On top of the World' now in the Top 20 ARIA (Australia) charts.

The Saddle Club Book: 110 titles; 16 million copies sold worldwide. 450,000 units sold in Australia since March 2001.

The Saddle Club PC game: Currently Australia's No 1 selling PC game.

The Saddle Club apparel range: Launched in Australia exclusively to Target, the range has been a major success with repeat and new style orders rushed through within days of launch.

The Saddle Club Merchandising Program (Aust.): More than 20 licences with over 120 product ranges launched mid 03.

International Sales: The television series based on the international best-selling novels by Bonnie Bryant has been sold to the following markets: ABC Network and Foxtel (Australia), Discovery Kids (USA), YTV (Canada), TV 3 (NZ), TPS Jeunesse (France), Alter Channel (Greece), NRK (Norway), SVT (Sweden), YLE (Finland), Tohokushinsha (Japan), TPS Malta TV (Malta), CBC (Cyprus), Cable Television (UAE) Underpinning the international success of the show is its global contextcast members include an African American [African Canadian?tz], Canadian, Australian, Irish and French.

About Craw fords Australia

Crawford Productions is Australia's most established and respected television production company. The name of Crawford Productions has become synonymous with high quality entertainment for over 50 years. Crawford Productions pioneered television in Australia, ranging from police drama, sitcoms, mini-series, telemovies and children's drama, including the internationally acclaimed All the Rivers Run, The Flying Doctors and The Sullivans. Now part of the WIN television group and under the proprietorship of Bruce Gordon, Crawford Productions' eight-acre studio complex in Melbourne remains the centre for more film and television production in Victoria, Australia.

About Protocol Entertainment

Protocol Entertainment Inc. (a member of The Comweb Group) produced the highly acclaimed, audience-winning series Goosebumps, the children's chiller TV series based on the books by R.L. Stine. Goosebumps won the number one ratings spot for it's demographic in the U.S. on the Fox Kids Network, in its first season. Other Protocol series include Police Academy: The Series, and Code Name: Eternity, Spencer for Hire (ABC/Lifetime) and the feature film Pocahontas: The Legend.

released by Crawford Productions
September 01, 2003