WOW! Unlimited Media’s Frederator Studios Plans for Significant Expansion in Digital Publishing
More Than a Dozen New Wow! Wow! Wubbzy and Lucy the Dinosaur E-book Titles to Join Frederator Books’ Growing Content Library
TORONTO and NEW YORK, Nov. 07, 2019 -- Frederator Studios, part of WOW! Unlimited Media’s (TSX-V: WOW / OTCQX: WOWMF) leading next generation kids and youth entertainment business,
announced today plans to greatly expand its Frederator Books digital publishing business following significant growth and customer engagement over the past few months. Frederator Books, aimed at preschool to middle-school age children, features an array of titles from its stable of popular children’s characters and franchises led by
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy,
Catbug and
Lucy the Dinosaur.
Kicking off the expansion, Frederator will introduce 13 new
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy e-books, inspired by the hit animated preschool series that aired on Nick Jr., this month. The company plans to more than double its library over the next year, which currently consists of nearly 50 titles. Available on leading kids’ e-book platforms such as Amazon and Epic!, Frederator Books has seen very strong initial growth in engagement, with revenue growing approximately three-fold year-over-year from a modest base for the six months ended June 30, 2019.
“A new generation of kids and parents are tapping into the world of digital reading to discover new content,” said Fred Seibert, CEO of Frederator and Chief Creative Officer of WOW!. "This medium is a perfect new opportunity for talented artists and writers, and an ideal moment for Frederator to invest in a growing industry. The expansion will allow current fans of these beloved characters to experience them in new ways, and open a new avenue to introduce fresh, new properties.”
The venture into digital publishing is the latest move by WOW! Unlimited Media to increase its presence at the forefront of the ever-evolving animation and kids’ entertainment landscape. The company has rapidly built a strong production portfolio with a number of high-end properties, including
Castlevania, a top-rated animation series on Netflix,
ReBoot: The Guardian Code (Netflix),
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures (with Mattel for Netflix),
Bee & PuppyCat (Cartoon Hangover),
Costume Quest (Amazon) and
Spy Kids: Mission Critical (Netflix).
The news comes as digital publishing is on the rise in the kids entertainment industry, with Viacom International Media Networks launching a new eBook subscription app
BooKids by Nickelodeon in September, which features titles starring the kidnet’s IPs, as well as
Nick Stories in Scandinavia. Amazon released its first eReader aimed specifically at kids last month and loaded it with more than 1,000 eBooks. Beyond digital books, in the past year publishing as a whole has seen a resurgence as a growing number of streamers and burgeoning prodcos are turning the page to look for books that are ripe for adaptation, and which they can turn into popular content.
About WOW! Unlimited Media
WOW! Unlimited is creating a leading animation-focused entertainment company by producing top-end content and building brands and audiences on the most engaging media platforms. The Company produces animation in its two established studios: Frederator Studios in Los Angeles, which has a 20-year track record; and one of Canada's largest, multi-faceted animation production studios, Mainframe Studios in Vancouver, which has a 25-year track record. The Company’s media assets include Channel Frederator Network, on YouTube, as well as WOW! branded programming on Crave, Canada’s leading streaming entertainment platform, owned by Bell Media. The Company operates out of offices in Toronto, New York, Vancouver and Los Angeles. The common voting shares of the Company (the “Common Voting Shares”) and variable voting shares of the Company (the “Variable Voting Shares”) are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSX-V”) (TSX-V: WOW) and the OTCQX Best Market (OTCQX: WOWMF).
https://www.wowunlimited.co
About Frederator
Frederator Networks is a pioneer in streaming video and is a leading independent producer of animation for streaming services, linear television and on-line video platforms. Over the past 20 years, Frederator Studios has produced 19 series and more than 250 short films for and with partners including Netflix, Amazon, Google, Nickelodeon (
The Fairly OddParents,
Oh Yeah! Cartoons,
My Life As A Teenage Robot,
The Nicktoons Film Festival,
ChalkZone,
Random! Cartoons,
Fanboy and Chum Chum), Nick Jr. (
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!), Sony Pictures Animation, and Cartoon Network. Frederator Digital has built one of the largest animation networks on YouTube as well as maintaining O&O channels to test production concepts and build audience awareness. The various O&O channels target audiences for video game enthusiasts, movie and TV lovers as well as all things animation. Frederator Books is a digital publisher which further extends the company's revenue opportunities from IP and builds audiences for its properties. The company maintains offices in Los Angeles and New York.
https://frederator.com
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H/T: Kidscreen.
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