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CNN Live At Daybreak

Muppets Homecoming

Aired May 08, 2003 - 06:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little business buzz right now. It is time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, the Muppets are coming home.
Susan Lisovicz, tell us about it.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I hope -- I was hoping that you would sing that little toss.

COSTELLO: I didn't want to put the audience -- no.

LISOVICZ: Well I am going to bail you out. I'm happy to report that Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and their Muppet friends are coming home. Children of the Muppets late creator, Jim Henson, are buying back the company from ailing German media group EMTV. The deal worth $89 million, which is a bargain considering that EMTV paid $680 million for the Jim Henson Company at the peak of the stock market bubble in 2000. It has since sold off pieces of the company, including the Sesame Street characters.

And, Carol, a little bit of Muppet trivia for you, Jim Henson once said in an interview that he modeled Kermit the Frog after himself, only a little bit snarkier. We still don't know who or what inspired Miss Piggy, a little dangerous.

COSTELLO: Hopefully that will forever remain a secret for...

LISOVICZ: I think so.

COSTELLO: ... whoever she was based on.

A quick look at the futures before you have to go.

LISOVICZ: Pointing to a lower open, which would continue what we saw yesterday. Stocks down, the Dow industrials losing a third of a percent, the Nasdaq dropping more than 1 percent.

One thing that could move the market today comes out an hour before the opening bell, jobless claims due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. You won't forget, I'm sure, that last week we had the monthly jobless rate, which increased to 6 percent.

COSTELLO: Yes, it wasn't good, was it?

LISOVICZ: No.

COSTELLO: Susan Lisovicz, many thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 8, 2003 - 06:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little business buzz right now. It is time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, the Muppets are coming home.
Susan Lisovicz, tell us about it.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I hope -- I was hoping that you would sing that little toss.

COSTELLO: I didn't want to put the audience -- no.

LISOVICZ: Well I am going to bail you out. I'm happy to report that Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and their Muppet friends are coming home. Children of the Muppets late creator, Jim Henson, are buying back the company from ailing German media group EMTV. The deal worth $89 million, which is a bargain considering that EMTV paid $680 million for the Jim Henson Company at the peak of the stock market bubble in 2000. It has since sold off pieces of the company, including the Sesame Street characters.

And, Carol, a little bit of Muppet trivia for you, Jim Henson once said in an interview that he modeled Kermit the Frog after himself, only a little bit snarkier. We still don't know who or what inspired Miss Piggy, a little dangerous.

COSTELLO: Hopefully that will forever remain a secret for...

LISOVICZ: I think so.

COSTELLO: ... whoever she was based on.

A quick look at the futures before you have to go.

LISOVICZ: Pointing to a lower open, which would continue what we saw yesterday. Stocks down, the Dow industrials losing a third of a percent, the Nasdaq dropping more than 1 percent.

One thing that could move the market today comes out an hour before the opening bell, jobless claims due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. You won't forget, I'm sure, that last week we had the monthly jobless rate, which increased to 6 percent.

COSTELLO: Yes, it wasn't good, was it?

LISOVICZ: No.

COSTELLO: Susan Lisovicz, many thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM AT www.fdch.com