New York, NY (June 15, 2005) -- Scholastic Entertainment (SE) has been having a double dose of success since the launch of Maya & Miguel™ in October ’04 on PBS KIDS GO!. SE’s breakout hit animated series has triggered a ground-swell of consumer demand among kids 6-11 who are clamoring for all things Maya & Miguel.  To meet the demand, SE has launched an aggressive consumer products and publishing roll out, mounted new licensing partnerships and is poised to announce a host of new promotional partnerships for the fall.  To continue the momentum around the series, SE has launched a year-round, multi-tiered marketing campaign that includes targeted paid media, innovative on air and online programming stunts, high profile partnerships and great new merchandise on store shelves.  With top notch ratings, prestigious awards and an audience already passionate about their favorite twin antics, Maya & Miguel promises to be Scholastic’s next powerhouse brand for the school-aged set.
 
“Maya & Miguel made an immediate connection with the audience, performing above and beyond our expectations in all domains,” stated Leslye Schaefer, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Consumer Products, Scholastic Entertainment.  “Already garnering incredible ratings, prestigious awards, successful merchandising, and a growing, enthusiastic fan base, we could not be more thrilled with the progress of this property.”
 
Maya & Miguel ranks as the #1 new show on PBS KIDS GO! and the #2 PBS program for kids ages 6-11 according to PBS audience data.*  Outperforming popular shows such as Lizzie McGuire, Teen Titans, Kim Possible, Proud Family, Recess and That’s So Raven, the series’ growing fan base is enamored with the dynamic duo of Maya & Miguel.**  The active website at pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel is filled with games, graphics and endless information about the show and has received over 100 million page views and almost 400,000 average daily users.
 
The Maya & Miguel merchandise line, featuring colorful, fashion-forward sportswear and swimwear by master apparel licensee Mamiye Bros, hit stores in the spring with a high-quality line of sets & separates, tops & bottoms, skirts, dresses, T-shirts, jackets and more, designed for girls sizes 4-16. Currently available at Target stores nationwide, the product line-up will eventually extend to include hats, jewelry, cosmetics, and handbags.  AOL will feature the products available at Target in their kids section through October and an email blast highlighting the new products was sent to 100,000 parents along with a brand new “Style File” game where kids can design fashions for Maya and Miguel.

Additionally, Scholastic launched its Maya & Miguel publishing program with three titles based on episodes from the hit television show and additional titles slated to arrive in the fall.  The current offerings include My Twin Brother/My Twin Sister, a flip chapter book which tells a different entertaining story on either side of the book; Family Fix-Up, a four-color telenovel told in comic-panel format; and Big Ideas, a four-color activity/lifestyle book. All books are available wherever books are sold.  With more than 30 licensees on board, Maya & Miguel fans can get into the spirit of their favorite twins with additional product rolling out this fall including the debut of the highly anticipated TV-advertised toy line from Toy Play.
 
Marketing
Innovative television stunts such as Maya & Miguel MAYnia this spring, the weeklong Valentwins Day special and Winter Break Double Take have helped to create a sense of excitement around the series for viewers. The Maya & Miguel Sport-tacular is another breakthrough on-air stunt from SE that features sports-themed episodes.  The promotion also includes an extensive program through a partnership with MLS and the league’s “Futbolito” program, a community-based soccer league, which will host Maya & Miguel tournaments and skill tests in 14 key markets.  The tournaments will feature in-field signage and poster and banner exposure as well as Maya & Miguel costume appearances and giveaways that will run for a three-month period starting this June.  The Maya & Miguel Sport-tacular will air for one week in July, with companion interactive online activities providing more sports fun.
 
International
Less than a year after its successful debut on PBS KIDS GO! in the U.S., the success and popularity of Scholastic Entertainment’s new hit series Maya & Miguel has spread worldwide. A number of deals with international networks including the BBC in the United Kingdom; Cartoon Network Latin America; NOGA in Israel; ABS-CBN in the Philippines and Luk International in Spain and Portugal have all been signed.  The five international broadcasters have acquired all 65 half-hour episodes of the breakthrough series.
 
Awards
Since October, the show has received numerous awards, nominations and accolades.  Most recently, the Hispanic Federation honored Scholastic with the prestigious Corporate Citizenship award for Maya & Miguel.  The creator and producer of the show, Scholastic Entertainment’s President Deborah Forte is the recipient of the Puerto Rican Family Institute “Community Outreach Award.” The series has also been nominated for an Imagen Award in the category of Best Children’s Programming. The Parents’ Choice Awards Committee selected Maya & Miguel as a 2005 Parents’ Choice Approved Award winner.

Based on an original concept by Scholastic Entertainment President Deborah Forte, the series is designed to present culture and language learning as fun, relevant, and rewarding for all children, with a special emphasis on the Latino population. The goals of the series are: (1) to promote the value of a culturally diverse society; and (2) to support English language learners through the presentation of language in a natural context with a special emphasis on vocabulary. Maya & Miguel is a broad-based Scholastic initiative comprised of television; print media; school and community outreach; dynamic Web sites at pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel as well as scholastic.com; publishing; and a host of ancillary products including apparel and accessories, and coming soon, home video and DVD.
 
About Scholastic Entertainment
Scholastic Entertainment (SE) is the entertainment and media division of Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company. A proven leader in the children's entertainment landscape, SE ranks as one of the foremost producers of quality, family-oriented television programming, feature films, videos, and web sites, and an award-winning licensor and marketer of children's properties worldwide. In addition to Maya & Miguel™, SE's production credits include such popular television series as the top-rated Clifford The Big Red Dog® (PBS KIDS); the Emmy award-winning spin-off of this hit TV series, Clifford’s Puppy Days™ (PBS KIDS); the Emmy award-winning series I SPY (HBO Family) and The Magic School Bus™ (TLC); as well as Dear America, The Royal Diaries™, Animorphs ™ and Goosebumps™. In the feature film arena, SE has produced the critically-acclaimed movies Clifford’s Really Big Movie, The Baby-sitters Club, The Indian in the Cupboard, Tuck Everlasting and The Mighty and is currently adapting the best-selling Philip Pullman trilogy, His Dark Materials, for the big screen with New Line Cinema. Additionally, SE serves as the exclusive licensing, merchandising and promotional representative for such prominent franchises as Home Movies™. SE has been recognized with the LIMA Award for Best Brand/Corporate License for its Scholastic Brand product line as well as LIMA’s Best Character License of the Year for Clifford The Big Red Dog. For more information, visit Scholastic's Webby award-winning web site at scholastic.com.
 
About Scholastic
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology.  Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys.  The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries and television networks; and the Company's Internet site, www.scholastic.com.

 
* NTI Custom Analysis of Cume Data. Full week cume kids 6-11, average for weeks of 10/11/2004 and 11/1/2004.
** Nielsen Station Index, November 2004 sweep. Gross impressions for 210 markets.
 

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