Cricket Media Announces Distribution Agreement with English Salon Magazine in China

Cricket Media stories, articles to be licensed to English Salon to provide English students in China with high-quality content for language practice

WASHINGTON, DC, and BEIJING, China, July 17, 2015 /CNW/ - Cricket Media, an education media company and global learning network, today announced an agreement with English Salon, a leading national magazine brand in China, to feature Cricket content in the company's highly regarded publications beginning with three September 2015 editions.

Under the licensing agreement, English Salon will feature Cricket stories, articles and images in magazines including its higher education, high school and junior high school editions.  The publications, which are popular with English language learners in China, will feature content from a range of Cricket Media brands, including Muse, Spider, Ask, Faces, Cobblestone, Dig into History and Cicada.

"Cricket Media is very excited about our partnership with English Salon, especially given the brand's renown with English language students throughout China," said Cricket Media CEO Katya Andresen.  "Our high-quality content is ideal for language practice, and we are delighted to expand access to it throughout China."

English Salon was founded in 1994 by World Affairs Press, which is authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. Now the company publishes four magazines targeting elementary to college students.

"English Salon focuses on building strong English reading habits through its approach to content and cultural understanding, which includes internationally renowned experts and contributors," said Guo Lei, editor-in-chief of English Salon.  "Cricket Media's content will be an excellent addition to our products given its reputation and award-winning heritage."

The English Salon partnership was developed through its joint venture with Neusoft Holdings, Cricket Media's strategic partner in China and the country's largest IT services company.  Cricket's joint venture with Neusoft is called NeuPals.

About Cricket Media  
Cricket Media (TSXV: CKT) is an education media company that provides award-winning content on a safe and secure learning network for children, families and teachers across the world.  Cricket Media's 11 popular media brands for toddlers to teens include Babybug, Ladybug, Cricket® and Cobblestone®.  The Company's innovative web-based K12 tools for school and home include the ePals community and virtual classroom for global collaboration as well as In2Books®, a Common Core eMentoring program that builds reading, writing and critical thinking skills.  Cricket Media serves approximately one million classrooms and millions of teachers, students and parents in over 200 countries and territories through its platform and NeuPals, its joint venture with China's leading IT services company Neusoft. Cricket Media also licenses its content and platform to top publishing and educational companies worldwide.  For more information, please visit www.cricketmedia.com.

About English Salon

English Salon was launched in January 1994 by World Affairs Press. Its distinctive Chinese–English bilingual publishing products introduce cultures around the world and advance English language learning.

English Salon enjoys high prestige among Chinese readers. It has been well accepted and highly recommended by Chinese English teachers and experts. It has been awarded as "Exceptional Periodical" and "Best Recommended Periodical" by General Administration of Press and Publication of China.

In upholding our mission of "helping Chinese people learn English within China," English Salon has now become one of the most influential periodical brands for foreign language learning in China, promoting not only language knowledge but also cultural understanding.

SOURCE Cricket Media Inc.