Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Products to be Presented on Q2; Quality Products Include Videos And Scholastic's Best-Selling Books

Business Wire, Jan 26, 1995

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 26, 1995--As an illustration of the growing popularity of Scholastic's The Magic School Bus, PBS' critically-acclaimed animated series, Scholastic Inc. has agreed to work with Q2 Inc., the televised shopping service, for the distribution of merchandise based on the series.

This relationship marks the first time Scholastic Inc. has entered into the electronic retailing arena. The Q2 Scholastic's The Magic School Bus segments support Scholastic's commitment to making learning science fun and accessible to a wide audience of children and their families.

Scholastic's The Magic School Bus merchandise that will appear on Q2 includes high quality products such as videos from A Vision and copies of the best-selling books published by Scholastic, on which the television series is based. The merchandise will be featured during "Smart Stuff" segments on Saturday, January 28 at noon (EST) and Sunday, January 29 at 9:00 a.m. (EST).

"We're delighted to have the opportunity to have Q2 bring Scholastic's The Magic School Bus products to parents and children," said Deborah Forte, executive vice president, Scholastic Inc. "This exciting effort allows children to be exposed to products that make science fun."

Produced by Scholastic Productions, animated by Nelvana Ltd., and presented on PBS by South Carolina ETV, Scholastic's The Magic School Bus stars Lily Tomlin as the irrepressible Ms. Frizzle, "teacher extraordinaire." Ms. Frizzle's wacky "field trips" with her class in their magic transformable bus, introduce children to basic scientific concepts through hilarious, exciting voyages -- into space, to the bottom of the ocean, inside the human body -- or wherever the class lesson may lead.

Scholastic's The Magic School Bus television series is the centerpiece of a wide-ranging media project by Scholastic that includes the book series of the same name by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, with over 10 million copies in print; print support in Scholastic magazines; partnerships with youth-serving organizations across the country; a traveling museum exhibit involving more than 100 children's museums and science centers in the United States and Canada; and the distribution of free activity guides in schools and community centers nationwide.

Major funding for Scholastic's The Magic School Bus is provided by the National Science Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Microsoft Home. Additional support is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Q2 is an electronic retailing subsidiary of QVC Inc. which uses television to market a wide variety of consumer products. Q2 reaches over 11 million homes across the United States.

Scholastic Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHL) is one of the nation's leading publishers and distributors of children's books, classroom and professional magazines, educational software and instructional materials. The company also produces family-oriented video and television programming, and licenses and markets children's properties worldwide. Some of those properties include "Scholastic's The Magic School Bus," "The Baby-sitters Club," "Clifford The Big Red Dog," and "Goosebumps."

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