Fri
16th May
2008
Global Mobile Entertainment Group Sign Legendary Comics Footballer
Lancaster, England, 15 May 2008: ROK Comics, a subsidiary of the ROK Entertainment Group Inc. (OTCBB: ROKE), the global mobile entertainment company, is pleased to announce the addition of the legendary Roy of the Rovers comic to its stable of classic comics for mobile phones, in partnership with Egmont UK, starting with a classic 1970s story featuring Roy as England Manager.
(For a free sample, please visit www.rokcomics.com/royoftherovers.php )
Arguably the most famous British comics character of all, 'Roy of the Rovers' forty-year playing career began on the cover of top-selling weekly comic Tiger in September 1953. Since then, the phrase 'Roy of the Rovers stuff' has become part of the English language, regularly invoked by pundits to describe the essence of footballing dreams.
Working closely with Egmont and its Roy of the Rovers archivist Mark Towers, keeper of the official website, ROK Comics has begun its run of ROTR by serialising the 1970s story in which Roy is offered the opportunity to become England manager.
Roy of the Rovers joins a growing number of classic and ongoing British comics being published in the ROK Comics format via www.rokcomics.com and Mobile Operator partners in countries such as China, India, Pakistan and South Africa. "British comics have been exported worldwide for decades," says ROK Comics Managing Editor John Freeman. "Now they're being exported digitally to laptops and mobile phones!"
In addition to Roy of the Rovers, ROK is also publishing Egmont characters such as the secret agent Dredger from Action!, the classic humour strip Faceache and others.
"We're delighted to be working with Egmont on bringing their classic characters to a whole new generation," added Laurence Alexander, Group CEO of ROK “and we’re looking for Roy to score big time, home and away, for our hugely popular ROK Comics service.”
ROK Comics also has agreements with publishers such as the Daily Express (Beau Peep, Jeff Hawke and others), Look and Learn Ltd. (Robin Hood), Markosia (Dark Mists, The Lexian Chronicles) and others. Garfield, which appears in The Daily Mail and Doonesbury, which appears in The Guardian, are also being offered for download and on subscription in key territories.
Ends.
For further information contact John Freeman: john.freeman@rokmedialtd.com
Notes to Editors
ABOUT ROK COMICS
• ROK Comics on Mobile (www.rokcomics.com) is a mobile comics publishing solution enabling comics' creators and publishers to syndicate their works to mobile phone users worldwide. The service opens up huge worldwide commercial opportunities for all comic creators, artists, writers and publishers.
With access to hundred of millions of handsets through existing Mobile Network Operator Agreements, ROK Comics can deliver digital comics straight to mobile handsets and collect revenue for doing so.
ROK Comics is a new opportunity for publishers and creators to reach a worldwide audience who will be able to download the comics via Pay Per Download or subscription via Multi Media Messaging (MMS) and WAP.
In addition to several licensed comics that are being offered via ROK Comics, publishers can also create Free Samples of strips that can be viewed online and on mobile to promote their print editions, and let fans know about them by e-mail, and provide an "Embed" of a strip, which can be posted on web sites, blog or company site.
• ROK Comics, managed by ROK Media Ltd, is part of ROK Entertainment Group, founded in 2004, a global mobile entertainment group.
With approximately 200 staff worldwide, ROK has filed more than 40 international patents for its suite of innovative mobile technologies.
With 3 billion mobile handsets in use worldwide, the mobile entertainment industry is a multi-billion dollar business.
ROK TV enables the streaming of live and on-demand TV to mobile phones over mass-market 2.5G, as well as over 3G and Wi-Fi.
• Books and magazines form the core part of Egmont UK's business in the UK. Every year, Egmont UK sells approximately 16 million books and 11.5 million magazines.
• Egmont Books is one of the largest children's book publishers in the UK. Its diverse catalogue caters for children of all ages, featuring popular licensed characters such as Winnie-the-Pooh and Thomas the Tank Engine, an impressive picture book list with stars such as Helen Oxenbury and Colin and Jacqui Hawkins, as well as an award-winning fiction list with authors such as Jamila Gavin, William Nicholson, Michael Morpurgo and Anne Fine. Egmont is also the UK publisher of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, which has sold over two million copies in the UK alone.
Forward-Looking Statement
The information contained in this new release, other than historical information, consists of forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these statements. Forward-looking statements regarding the timing of developing, testing and releasing existing and new products, of marketing and selling them, of deriving revenues and profits from them, as well as the effects of those revenues and profits on the Group's margins and financial position, are uncertain because many of the factors affecting the timing of those items are beyond the Group's control.
