Genius Brands Network Surges Past 80 Million U.S. Households
Cox, Tubi and XUMO Join an Expanding Network Distribution Roster That Already Includes Amazon, Comcast, Apple TV, Roku and YouTube
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Aug. 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genius Brands International, Inc. “Genius Brands” (NASDAQ: GNUS), the global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia entertainment content for children, today announced that its Genius Brands Network has surpassed availability in over 80 million U.S. households. The thirty-three percent increase in reach from the company’s last publicly reported total in April is a result of recent multi-year distribution deals with Cox, Tubi and XUMO.
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Genius Brands launched the Genius Brands Network as a destination devoted to delivering “Content with a Purpose,” providing kids and parents with a choice in premium entertaining, enriching and engaging programming. The network is comprised of Kid Genius Cartoon Channel and Baby Genius TV, and is distributed across multiple over-the-top (OTT) platforms as both ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) and subscriber video-on-demand (SVOD) services. The addition of the Genius Brands Network channels on Cox (AVOD and SVOD), Tubi (AVOD), and XUMO (AVOD) round out a growing distribution roster that includes Amazon Prime, Comcast’s Xfinity on Demand, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and YouTube.
“2018 is shaping up to be a momentous year for Genius Brands as we further cultivate our brands, like Llama Llama and Rainbow Rangers; bolster our animation catalogue; generate merchandising and advertising revenue; and drive distribution and viewership gains,” commented Andy Heyward, Chairman and CEO, Genius Brands. “We expect the second half to be pivotal as we see one of our top pre-school brands come to life on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr.; raise production financing for the second season of our Netflix series; watch our exclusive Kid Genius Cartoons Plus subscription channel flourish on Amazon Prime; and embark on a profitable journey – all with the greater overarching vision of making Genius Brands a formidable, competitive force in children’s entertainment.”
“With these new partnerships, we are thrilled to increase the availability of the Genius Brands Network channels to two-thirds of U.S. households,” said Deb Pierson, Senior Vice President, Global Content Distribution & Marketing, Genius Brands. “We’re serving our viewers, both existing and new, with the premium content they love on the platforms they prefer.”
Kid Genius is aimed at kids to tweens, and exposes kids to new and intriguing subjects that stimulate their senses and expand their minds. Baby Genius targets toddlers to preschoolers with educational lessons through infectious music and vibrant characters that ignite their imagination and encourage natural development. Combining popular children’s TV library content, such as The Adventures of Paddington Bear, Inspector Gadget (classic) and Dino Squad, with Genius Brands originals, like the award-winning Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab and Baby Genius, Genius Brands Network is the only independent kids portal with channel offerings that deliver age appropriate, engaging content within a safe viewing environment.
Other 2018 distribution and content licensing highlights include:
- Starting in Q3, Jr. Mojo, the kids channel from YouTube powerhouse – Watch Mojo, will provide its original content to the Genius Brands Network, making it the only place to view this content outside of Jr. Mojo’s YouTube channel. Genius Brands Network shows, including Baby Genius, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab and Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club will, in turn, be available for Jr. Mojo viewers on YouTube.
- Effective Q3, Samsung’s Samsung Kids, an award-winning, all-in-one subscription service featuring the best movies, TV shows, games, and books for children 3 to 8 years old, has added Genius Brands’ Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club; Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, which promotes STEM principles and seeks to tap into kids' natural curiosity while encouraging them to push conventional scientific and technological boundaries through experimentation; and Martha Stewart's animated series Martha & Friends to its stable of programming.
- Cheddar, the leading digital streaming business network, debuted Genius Brands’ animated children’s series, Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club, on June 23, 2018. Created with and starring an animated Warren Buffett, the series features a group of kids who join him on business adventures and features the guest talents of Bill Gates, Jay-Z, Shaquille O’Neal, Nick Cannon, Gisele Bündchen and Kelly Rowland.
About Genius Brands International
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNUS) is a leading global media company developing, producing, marketing and licensing branded children’s entertainment properties and consumer products for media distribution and retail channels. Led by award-winning creators and producers, Genius Brands distributes its content worldwide in all formats, as well as a broad range of consumer products based on its characters. In the children's media sector, its portfolio of “content with a purpose” includes new preschool properties Rainbow Rangers for Nick Jr. and Llama Llama for Netflix; tween music-driven YouTube brand, SpacePOP; award-winning toddler brand Baby Genius; adventure comedy series Thomas Edison's Secret Lab, and Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club, created with and starring iconic investor Warren Buffett. The Company’s content catalog also includes the animated series, Stan Lee's Cosmic Crusaders, created with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment. Genius Brands’ Kid Genius Cartoon Channel and its sister channel, Baby Genius Cartoons, is currently available in approximately 80 million households. For additional information please visit www.gnusbrands.com.
Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its patent business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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Released August 14, 2018