Genius Brands Announces Promotion of Jon Ollwerther to President of Kartoon Channel!
Kartoon Channel! Leads All Kids' Streaming Platforms with 5.0 Stars Rank in Apple iOS App Store and 4.8 Rank in Google/Android App Store
“Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten” Surpasses 21.6 Million Views on Kartoon Channel! Over 3.6 million per episode!
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genius Brands (“Genius Brands” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GNUS), a global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia entertainment content for children, today announced the promotion of Jon Ollwerther to President of Kartoon Channel! Mr. Ollwerther previously served as General Manager of Kartoon Channel, and will continue in his role as Executive Vice President of Business Development for Genius Brands.
Andy Heyward, Chairman & CEO of Genius Brands, stated, “I am pleased to announce the well-deserved promotion of Jon, in recognition of his significant contributions to the rapid growth and success of our hit kids streaming platform, Kartoon Channel!”
Jon Ollwerther added, “Viewer rankings have put Kartoon Channel! above all other services, including Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube Kids, in both the Apple and the Google app stores. In addition, I am extremely proud to announce that “Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten” has just surpassed 21 million views on Kartoon Channel!, over 3.6 million per episode, since the initial launch just over 1 month ago with 6 episodes now released. We believe Superhero Kindergarten has risen to the ranks of one of the most highly viewed new cartoon launches in history, as we are building an evergreen production that will entertain generations of children, while attracting both advertisers and consumer product licensees.”
“In addition to the recently launched hit, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, we will be rolling out ’KC Pop Quiz!’ next quarter. It is a lightning fast-paced daily game show based on pop culture where kids win cool prizes. Think Jeopardy meets HQ Trivia! Shortly thereafter, we will introduce our 3rd original product, Shaquille O’Neal’s first animated series, ‘Shaq’s Garage,’ created by Joel Cohen, the co-writer and creator of Toy Story. Additionally, we will now be launching Season 3 of our hit series, ‘Rainbow Rangers’ with an exciting new twist.”
Mr. Ollwerther continued, “I am honored to take on this new role with Genius Brands, as I truly believe we are curating the very best combination of original, exclusive, and commercially acquired product within the kids’ entertainment industry. Key to our strategy is delivery of premium content that we believe will resonate with our audience—children. We could not have accomplished this successful launch without the leadership and support of our executive Chair, Margaret Loesch, and the handpicked Kartoon Channel team. We are excited about what is coming down the pipeline and we remain more encouraged than ever as we execute on our goal of building the premier kids streaming platform.”
Prior to joining Genius Brands, Mr. Ollwerther served as Vice President of Media, Arts & Entertainment for Measure, the nation's leading Drone as a Service® company. Working with clients across the country and around the world, Ollwerther has an extensive credit list of collaborations with brands and advertising agencies to create unforgettable experiences.
About Kartoon Channel!
Available everywhere and anywhere kids are today, Genius Brands International’s streaming digital 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, now premiering and 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 across multiple platforms, including 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 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 ‘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 new 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 i0s, Android TV, Android Mobil, Google Play, Xumo, Roku, Tubi, 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
INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:
ir@gnusbrands.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b7f084b5-8bff-41cc-8cd9-adef2f8605c1
Kartoon Channel! Leads All Kids' Streaming Platforms with 5.0 Stars Rank in Apple iOS App Store and 4.8 Rank in Google/Android App Store
Viewer rankings have put Kartoon Channel! above all other services, including Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube Kids, in both the Apple and the Google app stores.
Released May 25, 2021