Bob the Builder chisels away at Barney's fame

By April Castro
Associated Press

Peter Orton, chief executive of HIT Entertainment, is flanked by two of his company's biggest stars, Bob the Builder and Barney the Dinosaur. Bob and Barney are faves among the preschool crowd. Associated Press 'Bob the Builder' 6:30 a.m., Mondays-Fridays Nickelodeon

The popular English construction worker, whose computer-animated television show debuted to American audiences on the Nick Jr. network in January 2001, has garnered acclaim among the preschool and elementary crowd.

Armed with his signature tool belt and hard hat, Bob has hammered his way past the singing and dancing purple dinosaur and into the hearts of children around the world. Bob has become a sought-after toy. He even merited a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

The computer-animated series is set in a construction yard, where Bob and gal pal Wendy meet each morning before going out on assignment for neighborhood characters. In cahoots with talking construction equipment, Bob and friends spend 30 minutes illustrating their thematic can-do agenda.

Bob's creator, HIT Entertainment of London, acquired the company that produces Barney, Allen-based Lyrick Studios, last year for $275 million. The deal gave HIT a marketing and distribution network that it used to introduce Bob to U.S. audiences.

But while Barney's popularity has plummeted since his heyday, he's not giving up without a fight. He's still drawing a 6.6 rating among children ages 2 to 5, or 1,070,000 children, according to PBS' season-to-date figures. That's down from a peak 13.2 rating, or 2,080,000 children, in the 1996-97 season.

The falling television ratings might be blamed partly on the fact that Barney hadn't filmed new episodes or completed a toy-licensing agreement in about five years.

Now Barney is undergoing a makeover. HIT has been busy producing new shows at the company's Carrollton studios slated for fall release on PBS, Barney's television home since the show first aired in 1992. The familiar playground set has been replaced by a park scene complete with $40,000 sycamore trees, a pond, a gazebo and a caboose. And producers have updated Barney's act, too, giving him a laptop computer.