Animation+, A Free Channel Focused On Adult Comedy Content, Launches In U.S. And Canada

Animation+, a new streaming service and studio focused on adult comedy content for millennial and Gen Z audiences, has launched in the U.S. and Canada. Its first consumer offering is a free ad-supported tv channel, currently available exclusively on Samsung TV Plus.

The channel carries 600-plus hours of content at launch stemming from partnerships with Youtube creators including Explosm Studios (Cyanide and Happiness), Hunter Hancock (MeatCanyon and Papa Meat), Jarrad Wright (The Big Lez Official), Tom Hinchliffe and Don Greger (FlashGitz), David Firth (Salad Fingers), Mike Carfora and Adam Mickiewicz (Bridge Kids), Drue and Myles Langlois (Apollo Gauntlet and Dudes of Hazmat), Joost Lieuwma (Cartoon Box), Ross Bollinger (Pencilmation), and Marc M (Sick Animation).

The service is developed by Streaming Ink Media, a company run by media executives Evan Weiss and John Fitzpatrick. Both have unique experience in the web creator space. Weiss was the manager that represented first-generation Youtube star Lucas Cruikshank, whose Fred Figglehorn character was among the earliest properties to transition from the web to mainstream cable. Fitzpatrick meanwhile worked with Explosm Studios to create crowdfunding and distribution deals for projects such as The Cyanide & Happiness Show and Joking Hazard.

Doug Herzog, former president of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group, is an advisor to the service.

The streamer’s studio side, Animation+ Studios, is developing new content and plans to launch a premium service with original half-hour series, 11-minute series, feature-length films, and video games in 2025.

“Presently, the FAST [free ad-supported tv] channel landscape is dominated by legacy content with nostalgia appeal,” Weiss said in a statement. “Animation+ is offering a refreshingly current, relevant content variety within the adult animation genre as our studio is at work developing original premium content with these popular creators.”

Animation+ plans to expand internationally as well as to other platforms later this year. A beta version of an Animation+ app will be made available on a limited basis in Q4 of this year.