The April 23 premiere of
Genius Brands International,
Inc.’s (“Genius Brands”) (NASDAQ:GNUS)
Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, has proven to
be a huge hit for
Kartoon
Channel!, with over 9 million views to
date.
“Superhero Kindergarten analytics from Kartoon Channel! from the
first weekend, exceeded all expectations, with traffic up across
every metric we track,” said Kartoon Channel! General Manager, Jon
Ollwerther.
“Network hours watched went up
941% week-over-week to 349,735 hours. Unique
users went up 1,841% week-over-week to
1,858,434 uniques. New application installs
went up 465.9%, as we saw growth across all
viewing outlets including televisions, tablets, mobile phones,
computers, and game consoles, as well as growth across all the
viewing platforms of Kartoon Channel!, including Apple, Android,
Roku, Amazon, You Tube, Samsung, LG, and others, with full episode
viewing exceeding industry norms as well. We can already see the
2nd weekend dramatically building on the 1st.”
Celebrating the Superhero Kindergarten milestone, Schwarzenegger
stated: “Over 9 million views is an incredible start in this
wonderful adventure, and I know that Stan would be extremely proud.
I’m personally quite pleased, because it is positive content, for
both kids and their parents. As Kelly Clarkson said this week on
her show after airing a clip, ‘I love when a program comes out that
my kids want to watch, and I want to watch as well. ” (Click to
view Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent appearances on The Kelly
Clarkson Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
“The world is migrating to streaming, and being free and family
friendly, are distinguishing factors to drive Kartoon Channel!
success,” said Genius Brands CEO, Andy Heyward. “Warren Buffett
calls this type of differentiation a ‘moat,’ where an economic
castle enjoys a material competitive advantage. There is no monthly
subscription fee on Kartoon Channel!, as is required by many
streaming services, because we are ad-supported. No less important
is that we are producing very cool original content of the highest
quality, which today’s kids and families want to see.”
“The importance of the Superhero Kindergarten performance is
that successful viewership drives advertising revenue to the
Kartoon Channel!, making the channel the valuable asset for Genius
Brands we have been aiming towards from its launch. Second,
retailers, toy companies, and consumer product licensees track
series performance closely, as they determine what brands they go
after and devote shelf space to. Though we can’t compare apples to
oranges, the most successful animated series on television for many
years has been the Simpsons. It is broadcast on linear television,
and averages about 3.1 million views per episode. While, Superhero
Kindergarten is streaming, not linear television, we couldn’t help
but notice that by the end of the second weekend, the series has
amassed more than 9 million views with only 3 episodes released so
far.”
Genius Brands will continue rolling out new
episodes each week with episode four debuting this Friday! The
series is available by downloading the free Kartoon Channel!
streaming app on Apple and Android devices; on Amazon Prime, on
connected TVs and devices by Samsung, LG, Roku, Tubi, Amazon Fire
Stick; on YouTube; and more; or by visiting
www.kartoonchannel.com.
Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten is geared towards
kids and families and focuses on the adventures of six unique kids
who are learning to master their super skills, along with their
ABCs. With the help of their teacher Arnold Armstrong (AKA ‘Captain
Fantastic’, the greatest superhero to ever live!).
It all began five years ago when Arnold Armstrong
faced off in a final fight against his nemesis, the evil Dr.
Superior, that left him powerless. Little did anyone know that
during the fight, super-energy particles rained down on a group of
unsuspecting toddlers. Now, those toddlers are kindergarten
students at Greenville Elementary School who, with the help of
Arnold Armstrong, must learn to control their powers as they go on
super adventures! Arnold Armstrong’s mission: to train these kids
to use their super-powers safely without revealing their
identities. They learn the values of teamwork, health, diversity
and anti-bullying while also protecting their town from rivals, and
the nefarious Dr. Superior who has returned as Headmaster Danforth
of the Academy for Superior Children across town.
Fun for the whole family, the series opens up the
superhero genre for a whole new demographic and draws kids in with
action and comedy, while parents can appreciate the quality of
content synonymous with Stan Lee. Season one of the series includes
26 half-hour long episodes that began with a two-episode double
feature and will be rolled out on a weekly basis every Friday.
Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten features
Schwarzenegger, voice-directed by John Landis, one
of the most successful movie directors of all time, with
Steven Banks, former head writer for SpongeBob
SquarePants, serving as head writer for the series. The series is
produced by Genius Brands and Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment in
association with Schwarzenegger’s Oak Productions. Gill
Champion, CEO of Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment;
Andy Heyward, Chairman & CEO of Genius Brands;
Schwarzenegger; and Paul Wachter of Main Street
Advisors serve as executive producers.
About Kartoon Channel!
Available everywhere and anywhere kids are today, Genius Brands’
streaming network, Kartoon Channel!, is a family entertainment
destination that delivers enduring childhood moments of humor,
adventure, and discovery.
Delivering 1000’s of episodes of carefully
curated free family-friendly content, the channel features animated
classics for little kids, including The Wubbulous World of Dr.
Seuss, Babar, Mello Dees, Super Simple Songs and Baby Genius, and
hit content for bigger kids, such as Pac-Man, Angry Birds, and
Yu-Gi-Oh, to original programming like Stan Lee’s Superhero
Kindergarten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, KC! Pop Quiz coming
in spring 2021, and Shaq’s Garage, starring Shaquille O’Neal for
2022. Kartoon Channel! also offers STEM-based content through its
Kartoon Classroom!, including Baby Einstein, and More.
Kartoon Channel! delivers positive and
purposeful content that is widely available and easily accessible
across all platforms (Comcast, Cox, DISH, Sling
TV, Amazon Prime, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Android TV,
Android Mobile, Google Play, Xumo, Roku, Tubi,
Samsung Smart TVs, and LGTVs).
Kartoon Channel! can also be streamed on TVs and
mobiles device by downloading the app, or on desktops by visiting
www.kartoonchannel.com
About Genius Brands
InternationalGenius Brands International, Inc. (Nasdaq:
GNUS) is a leading global kids media company developing, producing,
marketing and licensing branded children’s entertainment properties
and consumer products for media and retail distribution. The
Company’s ‘content with a purpose’ portfolio includes Stan Lee’s
Superhero Kindergarten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, on Kartoon
Channel!; Shaq’s Garage, starring Shaquille O’Neal on Kartoon
Channel!; Rainbow Rangers on Kartoon Channel! and Netflix; Llama
Llama, starring Jennifer Garner, on Netflix; award-winning toddler
brand Baby Genius; adventure comedy STEM series Thomas Edison's
Secret Lab; and entrepreneurship series Warren Buffett's Secret
Millionaires Club. Through licensing agreements with leading
partners, characters from Genius Brands’ IP also appear on a wide
range of consumer products for the worldwide retail marketplace.
The Company’s Kartoon Channel! and Kartoon Classroom! are available
in over 100 million U.S. television households via a broad range of
distribution platforms, including Comcast, Cox, DISH, Sling
TV, Amazon Prime, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Apple
iOS, Android TV, Android Mobil, Google Play,
Xumo, Roku, Tubi, YouTube, KartoonChannel.com, Samsung
Smart TVs and LG TVs. 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, our ability to generate revenue or
achieve profitability; our ability to obtain additional financing
on acceptable terms, if at all; the potential issuance of a
significant number of shares, which will dilute our equity holders;
fluctuations in the results of our operations from period to
period; general economic and financial conditions; our ability to
anticipate changes in popular culture, media and movies, fashion
and technology; competitive pressure from other distributors of
content and within the retail market; our reliance on and
relationships with third-party production and animation studios;
our ability to market and advertise our products; our reliance on
third-parties to promote our products; our ability to keep pace
with technological advances; our ability to protect our
intellectual property and those other risk factors set forth in the
“Risk Factors” section of the Company’s most recent Annual Report
on Form 10-K and in the Company's subsequent filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). 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.
MEDIA CONTACT:pr@gnusbrands.com
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