9 Story Media Group Inc. is a Canadian children's media production company and international distributor founded on September 1, 2002 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company has facilities in Toronto, New York, Dublin, and Bali.
9 Story Media Group was founded as 9 Story Entertainment in on September 1, 2002 by Vincent "Vince" Commisso, Steve Jarosz and Blake Tohana. The company established itself as a leading creator, producer and distributor of award-winning animated and live action content for young audiences.
Throughout the existence of the company, it has secured multiple distribution deals. 9 Story first launched its international distribution division in September 21, 2006 which was headed by Natalie Osborne.[1] On October 21, 2016, it was announced that the company revived the division as 9 Story Distribution International Ltd.[2][3]
On October 6, 2015, 9 Story Media Group announced a long-term partnership with HIT Entertainment, the now subsidiary of Mattel, to distribute Barney & Friends and Angelina Ballerina, as well as as relaunching both properties for a reboot that was slated to debut in 2017 with fifty-two eleven minute episodes (for both properties).[4] Production never occurred for either one of the properties. Since then, the company has held distribution rights to (both) the Barney (and Angelina Ballerina) franchise under 9 Story Distribution International Ltd.
9 Story booth at MIPCOM 2022, with a display featuring various IPs they distribute, including Barney.
Distribution[]
9 Story Kids YouTube banner, featuring Barney.
Barney[]
Streaming[]
Since acquiring distribution rights to the Barney franchise, the company took control of the official Barney YouTube channel. In 2023, 9 Story would revamp the YouTube channel to achieve a 15% year-over-year increase in viewing.[5][6]
- November 27, 2016: 9 Story secured multiple agreements across Asia thus making Deltamac - available in Hong Kong - licensed to broadcast the seventh and eighth seasons of Barney & Friends. [7]
- Fall 2017: Season fourteen of Barney & Friends became available to stream on Kikiriki TV, a digital children's channel from 9 Story Media Group.
- March 25, 2021: Fox Corporation's streaming service Tubi has announced they entered into a content deal with 9 Story Media Group to obtain one year of exclusive streaming rights to Seasons seven through nine of Barney & Friends, as well as non-exclusive streaming rights to Seasons ten through twelve. The episodes were released on April 9, 2021.[8][9]In early-April of 2022, the series was removed from the service.
- October 25, 2021: New York-based studio and streamer FilmRise announced they licensed a slate of classic children’s shows for its North American AVoD platform FilmRise Streaming Network, including Barney & Friends, announcing they're showcasing Seasons ten through fourteen. They have been acquired in non-exclusive deals with 9 Story Media Group.[10]
- May 24, 2023: 9 Story forms and begins uploading content on 'Barney Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs', a repurposed YouTube channel for Barney content that was originally known as an official YouTube channel for the Canadian/American animated educational television children's series Arthur since 2015.
- Fall 2023: A new Cineverse Matchpoint managed services partnership was announced for three channels with 9 Story, including the Barney franchise.[11][12]
- October 10, 2023: 9 Story is announced to launch a branded free ad-supported streaming television channel globally in 2024, which is set to include content from Barney & Friends.[13][14][15]
Home media[]
The first Barney Home Video for 9 Story to distribute was Playground Fun!, an episode compilation video of a few Barney & Friends episodes, released in 2017. The year afterwards, the company distributed a few home videos that were released prior to them obtaining distribution rights (alongside Universal Pictures Home Entertainment).
See: Videos distributed by 9 Story Media Group
Trivia[]
YouTube[]
- In response to misspelling Barney's name on a YouTube upload of the episode "Trail Boss Barney" (on August 31, 2016) the company tweeted (on September 2, 2016) that Barney considered changing his name but changed his mind.
People[]
- Devon Van Buskirk, a digital media technical specialist for 9 Story, managed the official Barney YouTube channel from 2019 until November 2022.
- James O'Handley, a digital media programming specialist for 9 Story, began managing the official Barney YouTube channel in January 2022, with tasks including editing the video compilations.