Genius Brands International Becomes Kartoon Studios

US-based children’s entertainment company Genius Brands International has changed its name to Kartoon Studios and will transfer its listing from the Nasdaq Capital Market to the NYSE American exchange.

The LA-headquartered studio, which owns the rights to certain IP created by comic book writer and Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee, said the move heralds the label’s “next phase of growth” in the production, distribution and licensing of kids’ content.

The rebrand comes after the company has made several acquisitions over the past year, including taking a majority stake in Germany’s Your Family Entertainment, plus acquiring Canada’s Wow! Unlimited Media and its subsidiaries Frederator Studios, Frederator Network and Mainframe Entertainment.

“We now have capabilities to do everything in-house, from content creation to production, distribution and global merchandising,” said Andy Heyward, Kartoon Studios chairman and CEO.

Kartoon Studios produces content such as Shaq’s Garage for Pluto TV and Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten for its own Kartoon Channel.

The company caused controversy earlier this year for using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to make shows like Kidaverse Fast Facts. As reported by C21, some children’s TV producers blasted the development as “horrifying” and “downright scary,” but the company defended the use of AI as a “digital assistant.”

The 2023 Eco-Logic Awards To Broadcast On People's Weather By October 2023

The Eco-Logic Awards identify individuals, organisations and communities that positively contribute towards a sustainable world – and we encourage consumers to support them by purchasing  their products and services.

These Awards have since grown into South Africa’s most Glamorously Green eco-calendar event, receiving extensive TV, radio, print media and online coverage.

Each year, individuals and organisations are told to submit their eco-logical products, services, projects or initiatives under 13 environmental categories to be evaluated  by a panel of highly respected and environmentally aware Judges.

Finalists are invited to join an exclusive group of Green VIP’s and thought leaders at the annual Eco-Logic Awards Gala event.

The 2023 Eco-Logic Awards is scheduled to air on People's Weather by October 2023.

Development Alert: Telemundo Is Said To Be Censoring Likely Banning Shows From Across Africa

During the week, a lot of Telemundo related developments had occurred first was the removal of Nurses as further episodes can only be streamed on Universal+. Another development was the complete removal of primetime on the channel.

We finally recieved word from our sources about the recent developments:

We aim to comply with local broadcast regulations in each market where our channels are broadcast and are adjusting our schedule to ensure compliance.

What this means in general is that Telemundo will be monitoring the type of content consumers will be viewing across Africa and this may have to do with the recent regulations proposed by Ugandan law enforcers where those under the LGBTQ can be jailed or killed.

Another brand involved in a similar scenario was Nickelodeon with The Loud House which featured two gay dads and the channel opted to censor some of their content before Kenyan government opted to rather ban the show from ever being viewed in the region.

Unlike Nickelodeon, Telemundo offers one feed across Africa meaning consumers won't get to see the rest of Nurses unless you have Universal+ which some consumers had reported is missing likely for consumers in neighbouring countries as opposed to South Africa.

Similar to how Nurses was phased out, it's very much possible that new content on the channel alongside rebroadcasts will likely undergo the same procedure before being made available anywhere in Africa.

Last year, Zee World and BBC Lifestyle rolled out regional feeds across Africa granting consumers particularly in South Africa the chance to see some of this unseen content. It's currently unknown if Telemundo will follow suit or rely on Universal+ for such content.

Recap To The Week: Could Telemundo Be The Next Channel To Exit The DStv And GOtv Platform Following The Cancellation Of Nurses For Universal+?

During the week, consumers were alarmed to see that Telemundo made a last minute change to their line-up when the only primetime series at the moment which is the medical drama Nurses had been phased out for the anthology series, Decisions.

Through my sources we were able to confirm that the show had been removed from the channel indefinitely - no reason was given for the sudden change. But rumours are swirling of a drop in viewership and others grow close to a channel termination.

As noted sometime ago, consumers should be embracing for more rebroadcasts in the coming months with False Identity and The End Of Paradise in places of For Love And Justice and Queen Of The South. Then there's also Law Of The Heart for Until Money Do Us Part.

Considering Decisions will end around the time consumers would be expecting the military drama it's likely to launch once it ends but Telemundo's sudden loss of Nurses does raise a lot of concern and fear for the channel that brought Aurelio and La Doña.

It's been no secret that Telemundo has been struggling for years to build their primetime schedule as seen with TLNovelas and Zee World. So much so that they went as far as moving primetime from 5 to 7 days and sourcing content from Caracol Television and RCN.

Onto the speculated shared across platforms, it's believed from several consumers that the channel will be phased out from DStv and GOtv as reruns takeover the channel with further episodes of Nurses available to stream on Universal+.

In other developments, Telemundo will be using their Passionistas Group to promote the classic series, Land Of Passions (with English subtitles).

THE CHANNEL SHARED A VERY CRYPTIC UPDATE

Could this have something to do with the anti-gay laws seen in Uganda where you can get imprisoned for promoting such content - who knows. But one thing's for certain, Nurses has been phased out indefinitely and if my hypothesis proves to be true than more channels are expected to undergo similar proceedings.

Development Alert: Telemundo Africa To Halt Production Of New Content In The Coming Months For More Rebroadcasts

Telemundo is a general entertainment channel that is currently distributed by NBCUniversal and home to Spanish language entertainment dubbed in English. The channel has garnered popularity for shows like My Heart Beats For Lola, Lord Of The Skies and Nurses.

It's popularity is what led to additions of Zee World and Star Life which boast a selection of Bollywood films and series and several years down the line an alternative/rival brand based in Mexico boasting a similar offering to the channel, TLNovelas.

For almost a decade, Telemundo has been going through several hurdles with their primetime schedule. At launch, they featured 4 shows and later could expand to include 2 shows. Fast forward to 2023, Telemundo doesn't have enough content to fill up their schedule.

Nurses is scheduled to end sometime in July while as other platforms such as their Passionistas Group on Facebook plans to broadcast the classic Land Of Passions. Those using DStv and GOtv are expected to embrace for the worst in the coming weeks.

According to sources, Telemundo will be airing rebroadcasts of False Identity, Operation Pacific and The End Of Paradise later in July in place of For Love And Justice, Queen Of The South and Nurses which will join the current rebroadcast of Lord Of The Skies.

This is probably the worst thing to see from the channel especially with their 10th year anniversary in August. But this might have something to do with the writer's strike in the United States if not a much bigger reason for the channel to become another rewind channel.

As mentioned, this has been a tradition for the channel so much that consumers wouldn't really be shocked if the brand were discontinued. On the basis of new content, Telemundo is awaiting on new seasons of Lord Of The Skies and Queen Of The South.

As for new content, the channel is rumoured to be rolling out Game Of Lies alongside another show which is awaiting confirmation.