PETER ORTONPeter Orton, who died on 5 December, 2007, aged 64, was a man to whom parents of young children throughout the world owe a great debt.He was the founder and chief executive of HiT Entertainment, the company responsible for distributing such kids’ television programmes as Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Sooty and Pingu to an international audience.He was an astute businessman with a great understanding of his market. Though he was happy to leave the creative side of the business to the experts, it was his marketing acumen that turned his characters into global successes and made HiT one of the biggest companies in the business.Peter Charles Orton was born in Portsmouth on 17 June, 1943. He struggled at school, failing his 11-plus and gaining only three O-levels and left Portsmouth Technical College at 17.His first job was as a salesman for a local tailor and got his first business success selling uniforms to tipsy Navy sailors. After working for several years as a travelling salesman in the West Country and Scotland for a medical sandal company, he joined the more glamorous Television International Enterprises.He excelled in his new field, securing his first major coup by selling television rights to the 1970 World Cup in Africa, the Middle East and Caribbean. He then went on to work closely with Jim Henson in New York, handling international sales of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show during the 1970s.In the 1980s he helped Henson form Henson International Television to market new series such as Fraggle Rock, Muppet Babies and The Storyteller and the Muppet movies. However, after the $150million sale of the company to Disney in 1989, Mr Orton decided to go his own way, setting up his own company (taking the initials of Henson’s company) with a £300,000 overdraft and a million air miles.During a period of recession in the entertainments industry, Mr Orton skilfully gathered a large portfolio of shows including Alvin & the Chipmunks and Postman Pat and caught the wave of growth following the advent of satellite TV. "I was extremely lucky with my timing," he said. "There was very little competition and most of it worked in big companies who weren't working to survive as I was."Within a decade HiT Entertainment had been floated on the stock exchange and a dedicated animation studio had been built in Manchester. Then, in 1998, Keith Chapman, a former Henson colleague, showed Mr Orton sketches of a new character attired in yellow hard hat, overalls and tool belt.Bob the Builder, voiced by Neil Morrissey, not only became one of the biggest children’s TV shows of all time, broadcasting in more than 30 countries and numerous languages, but also spawned two number one singles in addition to the usual range of toys, clothing and videos.The programme’s success made HiT into the world’s third biggest provider of children’s entertainment, behind only Disney and Warner Bros. It acquired the rights to Barney, a purple dinosaur, from America and Thomas the Tank Engine and Pingu. He let the BBC and ITV show re-runs of the programmes for nominal fees, using them as adverts for the accompanying tie-ins.Mr Orton retired in 2005 after selling the company (the deal was worth £489million) to pursue his country pursuit interests which included horse-breeding – he would name his animals after characters from his shows. The same year he also helped organise the Children's Party at the Palace, a celebration of British literature at Buckingham Palace.He was honoured by a BAFTA ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award in 2002 and appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 2007. He was survived by his wife Susan, whom he met while working as a salesman in Scotland, and their son, Jamie.
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