New York, NY (1/22/99) - The Pokemon craze just keeps getting crazier in 1999, much to the credit of the animated series becoming the No.1 rated syndicated kids show in America. The syndicators of the five-day strip, The Summit Media Group, a subsidiary of 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIDE), also announced today that they have recently purchased 52 more episodes for next season.

"The popularity and success that the Pokemon animated series has experienced in the U.S. has been overwhelming," said Al Kahn, Chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment. "The show's viewership, demographics and numbers have been gaining more and more momentum since the first episode went on the air in the U.S. only three months ago."

Based on the enormously successful Japanese cartoon series and Nintendo Game Boy game, the Pokemon cartoon airs Monday-Friday in morning or after-school time slots. In markets that air the series in morning timeslots, Pokemon has given such popular shows as The Today Show, Good Morning, America and CBS, This Morning some serious competition in the rating wars.

The tremendous popularity and appeal of the Pokemon phenomenon in the U.S. has been showcased not only in the television show's ratings, but also the Nintendo Gameboy game sales, the Hasbro toy line sales and widespread media coverage in such major publications as TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, L.A. Times, New York Magazine, etc.

Nintendo has dedicated their time, creativity and 12-14 million dollars to Pokemon, which includes the series, the Gameboy, promotions and advertising. HASBRO is making its presence known by creating the some of the most exciting Pokemon toys of the year, already with a successful sell through for '98, which only consisted of November and December. Based on this early success, retailers moved quickly to reorder in preparation for 1999 demand.

Kool Aid and Oscar Meyer Lunchables plan to partner with Pokemon for future promotions. Kool Aid will be supporting Pokemon with 30-second fully dedicated promotional TV spots targeting kids 6-12 (Valued est. 1.4MM). Oscar Meyer Lunchables - (2M pieces) Packaging: Estimated pack-out 35MM.