TV Veteran Margaret Loesch Joins Kid Genius Cartoon Channel

Longtime family media exec Margaret Loesch is joining VOD service Kid Genius Cartoon Channel.

Loesch will serve as executive chairman of the channel, which is one of Genius Brands International’s offerings. She will advise newly elevated channel president Deb Pierson, who was recently upped from general manager.

“We are extraordinarily fortunate to have the dean of children’s broadcasters, Margaret Loesch, expand on her role as a board member of Genius Brands International to join the Kid Genius Cartoon Channel as its executive chairman, given her outstanding background in creating and building successful kid’s networks,” said Andy Heyward, chairman and CEO of Genius Brands.

Loesch was the founder and CEO of Fox Kids Worldwide, and in her four decades in the kid and family programming arena, she’s overseen the development and production of beloved series like “My Little Pony,” “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” “X-Men,” “Animaniacs,” and “Transformers.”

Additionally, she was the founding president and CEO of the Hub TV Network, a multi-platform joint venture between Discovery Communications and Hasbro, Inc., and had oversight of all business and creative areas of the network.

Loesch was also the first president and CEO of Crown Media United States, responsible for the creation of its U.S. cable television network, Hallmark Channel; and president of television worldwide for The Jim Henson Company.

Heyward and the rest of Genius Brands International are looking to Loesch — and Pierson — to replicate the success of those prior jaunts. Kid Genius is available in 50 million U.S. households as an on-demand channel aimed at the toddler-to-pre-teen set.