Kartoon Studios has announced that its streaming service business, which premiered in June 2020, has achieved record revenue, increased its paid subscribers, expanded its international market coverage and reached break-even EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Kartoon Channel! is a children’s entertainment destination that delivers family-friendly content. In 2023, the channel’s paid subscribers increased 19 per cent over 2022, and its free trials, a leading indicator for future growth, more than doubled in Q4 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
Kartoon Studios’ streaming business recently hit break-even for the latest quarter. In addition, the company has reduced its customer acquisition costs by 50 per cent from the first half to the second half of 2023, driving bigger margins through improved media efficiency and a content strategy.
Kartoon Studios CEO Andy Heyward stated, “In three and a half years the growth of the Kartoon Studios’ streaming business in the USA and globally has been impressive. We challenged our leadership to learn from its practices and to surpass it. Not only have we already reached EBITDA break-even, but we are now experiencing solid growth, as we see consumers responding to the Kartoon Channel!’s brand of age-appropriate children’s content and the easy to navigate interface.”
Heyward continued, “We attribute the growth to the quality of the curated content, and most importantly to the leadership of the management of the channels, led domestically, by Toon Media Networks’ president Todd Steinman, and internationally by president of Kartoon Channel! Worldwide Paul Robinson, former managing director of Disney Channel Worldwide. I feel we have some of the brightest and most talented executives in the global content distribution and OTT/streaming business. Combining expanding market reach, growing revenue, and quality of service based on our Apple app store user ratings, we believe our streaming services will be an important component of Kartoon Studios’ growth strategy for years to come.”
In the Apple app store, the channel continues to sustain a top rating, 4.9 out of 5 stars, outperforming Netflix, YouTube Kids, and Disney+.
Kartoon Channel! branded blocks are available daily across Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It is currently available in Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa (StarTimes), India (Jio), Australia and New Zealand (Samsung TV Plus), Germany (Waipu), Philippines (Tap TV), Malaysia (Astro), Vietnam (BHD Cineplex), Indonesia (Linknet), United Arab Emirates (Etisalat), Mongolia (Mobinet), and Maldives (SSNet).
Kartoon Channel president & head of international distribution Paul Robinson concluded, “We have ambitious plans for the first half of 2024, which includes expansion into new territories that we anticipate would bring our reach to a combined population of over 1.8 billion people.”
Kartoon Channel! features content such as Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, Rainbow Rangers, Peppa Pig Shorts, Barney, Kidaverse Roblox Rumble, Llama Llama, Super Simple Songs, Melodee’s, Finny the Shark, Angry Birds, Yu-Gi-Oh! and more. The service penetrates USA’s television and is available across platforms including iOS, Android Mobile, Web, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, Tubi, Pluto TV, Xumo, Comcast, Cox, Dish, Sling TV, Samsung and LG Smart TVs.