Genius Brands International is expanding the reach of Rainbow Rangers this year.
The company inked a deal with Netflix to begin streaming the first season of the series beginning this July. Audiences in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East will have access to the series via the streaming service. The company also greenlit a third season of the series about seven girls who are Earth’s first responders.
“In under three years, we successfully launched and have dramatically increased the presence of Rainbow Rangers around the world, beginning with Nickelodeon here in the U.S., and we are now launching the premiere of new episodes to Kartoon Channel! in the U.S.,” says Andy Heyward, chairman and CEO of Genius Brands. “The fact that the series has been sought by top-tier broadcasters around the world, now including Netflix, underscores its huge appeal.”
Last August, Mattel’s Fisher-Price debuted a Team Rainbow Rangers set of figures that quickly sold out at retail. According to Heyward, bigger plans for the brand are in the works, including a new deal for the toy aisles.
“As we rapidly grow our global audience and assign global licensing agents, we remain committed to accelerating the launch of related merchandise worldwide through big-box retailers and online, which we believe will drive value for our shareholders,” Heyward says. “Season three stories will have a unique twist, which we believe will have a significant impact on consumer products worldwide, along with our new master toy licensee.”
Alongside the new deal with Netflix and plans to debut new episodes on Kartoon Channel!, Genius Brands inked additional broadcast and streaming deals for Rainbow Rangers globally.
Additional partners include Corus Entertainment’s Treehouse (Canada), Televisa and BLIM TV (Mexico), Cartoonito (Italy), NineNetwork (Australia), CCTV and iQiyi (China), Nickelodeon and NOGGIN (Latin America), TV2 (Hungary), NOGA (Israel), Mini Mini (Poland), Canal Panda (Portugal), Discovery Kids (Middle East), Mediacorp (Singapore), Awesome TV (Malaysia), and Pikaboo (Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina).
