Genius Brands International and Samsung Strike Deal for Kartoon Channel! to be Carried Across Samsung Smart TVs, Effective Immediately

Rhea-AI Summary

Genius Brands International (NASDAQ: GNUS) has significantly expanded its Kartoon Channel! since its launch in June 2020. A major partnership with Samsung enables free access to the channel on Samsung Smart TVs, reaching over 100 million U.S. households. The channel offers a variety of family-friendly content, including original series and educational programming. Kartoon Classroom! extends the platform with STEAM-based content designed for children. With ongoing content additions and innovative partnerships, Genius Brands aims to create a premier entertainment destination for families.

Positive

• Partnership with Samsung provides access to over 100 million U.S. households.
• Kartoon Channel! available on multiple platforms including Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire.
• New STEAM-based content added through Kartoon Classroom! enhances educational offerings.
• Regular content updates increase viewership and engagement.

Negative

• None.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Sept. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genius Brands International “Genius Brands” (NASDAQ: GNUS) continues to expand the footprint of its premiere children’s entertainment destination, Kartoon Channel!, which launched in June 2020, with the first television manufacturer deal finalized with Samsung, the world’s largest TV manufacturer with a share of over 20% of the global TV market. Kartoon Channel! is available for FREE on Samsung Smart TVs.

Additionally, Kartoon Channel! is now also available on a new Android and the Android TV app, and a new version is available to stream on Roku as well. Kartoon Channel! is currently available across a broad spectrum of OTT, AVOD and mobile channels, including Apple TV and iOS, Amazon Fire TV, Google Play, Comcast, Cox, DISH, Sling TV, Xumo, and streaming on the web via www.kartoonchannel.com. 

“We are very proud of what our team has accomplished in just three months since launching Kartoon Channel! with distribution across a broad spectrum of platforms with new partners being added frequently and new content coming to the channel on a weekly basis,” commented Jon Ollwerther, General Manager of Kartoon Channel! & EVP of Global Business Development at Genius Brands. “Today, Kartoon Channel! and Kartoon Classroom! are available, for free, to virtually every home in America, with the same great user experience and user interface. We are continuing to build unique avenues to provide a value-driven experience to our audience of toddlers to tweens and their parents and we are on track to achieve what we set out to do—create a premiere entertainment and educational destination in a safe environment to meet the needs of parents and kids.”

About Kartoon Channel! + Kartoon Classroom!
Available in over 100M U.S. television households and over 200M mobile devices, The Kartoon Channel!, which is also now available on iOS, offers access to a wide variety of Genius Brands original and acquired family-friendly content, with more added daily, including Babar, Angry Birds, Stan Lee’s Mighty7, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, Baby Einstein, Baby Genius, Llama Llama shorts, Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club, and more. Additionally, Genius Brands has added more family-friendly gaming content, including Minecraft’s Journey to the End and Fairy Horse Quest, Octodad, PixArk, and Big B Roblox Challenge from Tankee. Genius Brands will also premiere on Kartoon Channel! the upcoming comedy-adventure series, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, currently in pre-production and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, on Kartoon Channel! in Q1 2021.

Kartoon Channel! content has been curated through a program code developed in consultation with Stanford University Professor Emeritus Don Roberts, one of the world’s leading researchers of children’s media, to ensure the delivery of positive and purposeful content that parents can always know will provide safe viewing for their children. The Kartoon Channel! Content Code, under the leadership of Professor Roberts, ensures among other things, there will be no imitatable violence, no negative stereotypes, no inappropriate language, no degradation of the environment, and no excess commercialization.  

Kartoon Classroom! is an innovative extension of Kartoon Channel! that features relevant and impactful STEAM-based content (science, technology, engineering arts and math), including programming from Genius Brands’ ‘content with a purpose’ library such as Baby Genius (Early Development), Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab (STEM), and Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club (Financial Literacy). Additionally, Kartoon Classroom! will showcase content from third party creators worldwide, such as Baby Einstein (Early Development), Little Smart Planet (Early Learning), I’m A Dinosaur (Paleontology), Super Geek Heroes (Early Learning), Counting with Earl (Math), Giligilis (Musical Learning), and Out of this Word (English Language). Genius Brands will also develop new original content for the platform and announces the first Kartoon Classroom! original series in development, KC! Pop Quiz.

To stream Kartoon Channel! and Kartoon Classroom! for free, download our app or visit: www.kartoonchannel.com

About Genius Brands International
Genius 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 award-winning ‘content with a purpose’ portfolio includes the upcoming Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and in partnership with Alibaba; Rainbow Rangers for Nick Jr.; Llama Llama, starring Jennifer Garner, for 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 new Kartoon Channel! is available in over 100 million U.S. television households via a broad range of distribution platforms, including Comcast, Cox, DISH, Amazon Prime, Sling TV, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and more. 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; our ability to repay our outstanding debt; the potential issuance of a significant number of shares to our convertible note holders 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

INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:
ir@gnusbrands.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e872be24-836f-4657-a824-e1cf4d62fbee

FAQ

What is the latest partnership announced by Genius Brands?

Genius Brands has partnered with Samsung to provide free access to Kartoon Channel! on Samsung Smart TVs.

When was Kartoon Channel! launched?

Kartoon Channel! was launched in June 2020.

What educational content does Kartoon Classroom! offer?

Kartoon Classroom! offers STEAM-based content, including programming from Genius Brands' library and third-party creators.

How many U.S. households can access Kartoon Channel!?

Kartoon Channel! is available in over 100 million U.S. television households.

What new content is being added to the Kartoon Channel!?

New family-friendly shows and educational programming are added regularly to Kartoon Channel!.