Genius Brands International, Inc. Issues Shareholder Letter
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., March 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genius Brands International, Inc. “Genius Brands” (NASDAQ: GNUS), the global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia entertainment content for children, released a letter to shareholders from Chairman & CEO Andy Heyward. The complete letter follows:
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RAINBOW RANGERS RATINGS ON NICK JR. CONTINUE TO SOAR!!
“WALMART AND VITAMINS!!!”
Dear Genius Brands International Shareholders:
Last weekend I had the privilege to be the Master of Ceremonies for the annual fundraising gala for the Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center, in Bentonville, Arkansas, chaired by Jim Iannone, CEO of Sam’s Club.com. It was a spectacular event for the worthiest cause and capped a weekend for me in Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas. In addition to the event, I was also a guest on the local Late-Night talk show, “Later with Jason Suel.” The following morning on Sunday, I was fortunate to be given a private tour of the original Walton’s 5&10 store on Main Street in Bentonville.
You might wonder what this has to do with building the Rainbow Rangers brand or Genius Brands International? In a word…EVERYTHING.
With the demise of Toys“R”Us, the importance of Walmart, which was already immense, has increased by orders of magnitude. Every week in the United States, Walmart has approximately 170 million customers. Think of it this way: 1 out of every 2 men, women, and children in America are shopping in a Walmart every single week.
It is not only the #1 destination for toys, but for virtually every category of commerce one can imagine, including apparel, publishing, school supplies, bedding, costumes, party goods, backpacks, sleepwear, bicycles, health and beauty, and so forth.
With over 350 product SKUs for Rainbow Rangers alone coming to the market, having a first-class relationship with Walmart is essential. Of course, other mass retailers such as Target and Amazon are also significant, but we cannot ignore that Walmart alone, has over 50% of the market share.
Having said the above, let’s talk a little about Rainbow Rangers.
The show continues to perform exceptionally well on Nick Jr. We have been in a number of different time periods since we launched last November 5. The show broadcasts Monday through Friday in the afternoon, and then again on Sunday mornings. Six days a week is a powerful statement for a broadcaster and a massive vote of confidence. We have had many different lead-ins, including Dora the Explorer (Sundays), Sunny Day, Shimmer and Shine, and Nella the Princess Knight.
Across the entire season to date, Rainbow Rangers has been able to improve upon the ratings of its lead-in shows.
The industry ‘buzz’ for Rainbow Rangers continues to grow. From the start, I have said that this program has every possibility to become the next Paw Patrol, a multi-billion dollar brand, and in the most recent Toy Book, the new CEO of TRU Kids, Richard Barry, actually links the successes in preschool, of Paw Patrol with Rainbow Rangers.
"Finally, another stable category in which we predict continued growth is preschool, with product from kids’ favorite programs, such as Paw Patrol, PJ Masks, Peppa Pig, and Rainbow Rangers, seeing the most action.”(Richard Barry)
https://toybook.com/state-of-the-industry-qa-tru-kids-brands/
We are actively planning our second season with the various stakeholders, and we anticipate announcing this news formally and indicated what that means when we hold our Investor Conference Call on April 1, upon the filing of our 10K.
In the meantime, let’s look at some of the products coming to market from both Rainbow Rangers (Nickelodeon) and Llama Llama (Netflix). (see attached image)
These products will be powerful drivers of Genius Brands revenue and earnings for the future. They are all top-tier manufacturers, and virtually all are the same Disney licensees that create products for Frozen, The Avengers, The Incredibles, and the like.
Llama Llama continues to perform successfully on Netflix where we have just begun deliveries of the second season, and the new episodes are looking even better than the first season. Netflix has repeatedly expressed their excitement about the new season’s episodes. We have also expanded the storyline of Llama Llama by adding a character with disabilities who is not only a strong positive character but also who strongly supports the message of diversity and inclusivity, and has been extremely well received across our licensing base as well.
As we get closer and closer to Rainbow Rangers products on shelf, the brand continues to grow each week, and we are more excited than ever about the future!!
-Andy
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.
INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:
Michael Porter
PLR Investor Relations
212.564.4700 | mike@plrinvest.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6d82900b-fd23-4b7d-9102-7cd02eb69bff
Released March 13, 2019