Genius Brands International’s Hit Preschool Series, Rainbow Rangers, to Launch Across Latin America on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr. Channel and Its Noggin Mobile Streaming App

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. , April 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the heels of the recent news that Nickelodeon has greenlit season two of Genius Brands International’s “Genius Brands” (Nasdaq:GNUS) flagship animated series, ​Rainbow Rangers​, Nickelodeon Latin America has licensed season one (52 x 11’) of the series to debut in August on the Nick Jr. channel, and available to stream beginning in June on its NOGGIN preschool mobile app. Rainbow Rangers will be dubbed in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

Rainbow Rangers is a rescue-based series following the adventures of seven girls who are Earth’s first responders, protecting people, animals, resources, and the natural beauty of our world.  Since premiering on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr. in the U.S. in November 2018, the series, which airs Monday through Friday in the afternoon, and on Sunday mornings, has consistently retained its audience and grown from its lead-in shows across a variety of different time periods in which it has been placed for broadcast. Rainbow Rangers continues to garner top ratings in the key demos of girls and boys ages 2 – 5 and 6 – 11.

“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Nickelodeon beyond the U.S. to bring this much-loved series to children throughout Latin America for the first time,” said Andy Heyward, Chairman & CEO of Genius Brands. “Girls and boys across the U.S. are being entertained and inspired by our characters and empowering storylines, and Latin America is a first stop to deliver the fun and excitement of Rainbow Rangers to children worldwide.”

“We are excited to add Rainbow Rangers to Nick Jr. and Noggin’s roster of hit content,” commented Migdalis Silva, Vice President of Programming and Acquisitions for Nickelodeon Latin America. "This colorful and magical series is sure to captivate our preschool audience with its engaging characters and their thrilling adventures while creating awareness about environmental responsibility. We look forward to the success of the series on Nick's platforms in the region."

Zasha Robles, Director of Spiral International, Genius Brands’ exclusive content distribution agent in Latin America, commented, “Rainbow Rangers is a light-hearted story that will help open the children’s imagination. We have no doubt that the series is going to be a massive hit in the hands of such an experienced team at Nickelodeon Latin America.”

Rainbow Rangers boasts a unique and highly-accomplished team of creators from the animated motion picture and television worlds, including Rob Minkoff (Disney’s The Lion King director), Shane Morris (Disney’s Frozen co-writer), Tim Mansfield, and New York Times Bestselling author and Emmy Award-nominated writer Elise Allen (Dinosaur Train, Lion Guard, Barbie specials),  who serves as head writer and co-creator. Legendary Disney alum Ruben Aquino--responsible for the design and animation of many of Disney’s most iconic characters from award-winning films such as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Mulan, and Frozen—created key designs.  Multiple Emmy Award-winning director Michael Maliani directs the series, and Genius Brands' Chairman and CEO and multiple Emmy Award-winning producer, Andy Heyward, serves as executive producer.

About Genius Brands International
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, 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” brand portfolio, which is led by award-winning creators and producers, includes preschool properties Rainbow Rangers for Nick Jr. and Llama Llama for Netflix; award-winning toddler brand, Baby Genius; adventure comedy STEM series, Thomas Edison's Secret Lab; and financial literacy and entrepreneurship series, Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club. The Company’s content catalog also includes the animated series, Stan Lee's Cosmic Crusaders, created with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment. Seeing the need to provide kids and parents with a safe viewing environment that offers premium enriching and engaging programming, Genius Brands launched the Genius Brands Network – comprised of Kid Genius Cartoon Channel and Baby Genius TV, as well as an exclusive Kid Genius Cartoons Plus subscription channel on Amazon Prime. The Network channels are available in approximately 80 million U.S. households via a variety of distribution platforms, such as OTT, set-top box, internet, and mobile. Through licensing agreements with category leading partners, characters from the Company’s properties also appear on a wide range of consumer products for retail. For additional information, please visit www.gnusbrands.com.

About NOGGIN
NOGGIN is an ad-free, video subscription service that features over a thousand iconic, full-length library episodes, short-form videos, educational content, music videos featuring preschoolers’ favorite Nickelodeon characters, and more, with new content added weekly.  Currently available for iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Android, Fire tablet and Roku devices, NOGGIN has 36 series to date including the recently added Canticos, Dora the Explorer, Zack & Quack and Peppa Pig. Additional titles in the NOGGIN lineup include Yo Gabba Gabba!, Trucktown, Miffy and Friends, Teletubbies, Blue’s Clues, Go, Diego, Go!, Franklin, The Backyardigans, and Pocoyo.

About Viacom International Media Networks The Americas:
Viacom International Media Networks The Americas, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B), owns and operates the company's portfolio of entertainment brands, which include MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and their respective properties in Spanish speaking Latin America as well as Viacom Networks Brazil. Additionally, the portfolio includes Tr3s: MTV, Musica y Mas in the US, which targets a broad US Hispanic audience, and MTV Networks International's programming partnerships in Canada with Corus Entertainment for Nickelodeon and CTV Globe Media for MTV, Comedy Central, and Vh1. The company's emerging multiplatform businesses include MTVNHD and Red Viacom in Latin America as well as VH1HD in Brazil. MTV Networks Latin America, US Hispanic, and Canada also serve the growing number of digitally connected consumers via its websites: mtvla.com, mundonick.com, comedycentral.la, comedycentral.com.br, vh1la.com, vh1brasil.com.br, tr3s.com, mtv.ca, and nickcanada.com as well as through its broadband and community sites: mtvrevolution.com, mundonick.com/nickturbo, mtvmusica.com, neopets.com, and mtvdemo.com.

Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this notice 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.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/95f014be-5465-497d-a7f9-9aecfc16f9bc