ePals Announces Rebranding to Cricket Media to Reflect Focus on Social Learning Through Content

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Apr 16, 2014) -  ePals Corporation (TSX-VENTURE: SLN) ("ePals" or the "Company"), an education media company and global social learning network, today announced it will now operate under the name Cricket Media in order to reflect its core business of providing award-winning content on a safe and secure learning network for children, families and teachers across the world.

Coinciding with the rebranding of the Company as Cricket Media, effective as of the opening of trading on Monday, April 21, 2014, the Company's voting common shares will commence trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the new stock symbol "CKT". The Company will immediately begin conducting business under the name Cricket Media and will seek the approval of its shareholders to effect a legal name change at the Company's next annual meeting of shareholders later this year.

The evolution to the Cricket brand began with the January 2014 appointment of Katya Andresen to CEO to streamline the business with a focus on evolving the Company's media assets on its networking platform and growing its associated revenue streams.

"The rebranding reflects our respected Cricket® children's media brands -- including other award-winning brands such as Babybug®, Ladybug® and Cobblestone® -- and highlights our growing digital library of high-quality, multilingual children's content integrated with our child-safe social learning network," said Ms. Andresen. "We are a digital media company built on a worldwide social network designed for where learning is headed -- digital, collaborative and global."

The Company's focus on education media was reflected in an announcement this week with Fingerprint, a global mobile technology company, to develop a custom mobile learning network featuring Cricket Media's award-winning children's magazines, digital content and community management platform. The custom mobile learning network will enable family members and other parent-approved users to communicate and collaborate around engaging, educational content while providing parents with informative dashboards about their child's activity and performance.

Through new products and licensing partnerships, Cricket Media will continue to grow its digital offerings for consumers and corporate partners. At the beginning of last year 6% of the Company's subscriptions were digital. Today more than 30% of subscriptions for the Company's children's magazines are digital. In addition the Company distributes several top children's education apps.

Under its new brand Cricket Media also will continue to focus on its fast growing content and platform licensing business. Cricket Media makes its award winning content available to a wide array of licensing partners such as McGraw Hill and Pearson to enhance education and media offerings for children. It also helps corporate customers to power collaborative learning within their own products through Cricket Media's safe social networking platform and services.

Cricket Media will launch its new website tomorrow at www.cricketmedia.com. The name ePals and epals.com will become the brand of the Company's community to safely connect students and classrooms around the world, which contributes to licensing and sponsorship revenue streams as well as presents a distribution channel to Cricket Media's partners. The ePals community is also an important part of the Company's joint venture in China, called NeuPals, which connects classrooms for cultural exchange and language learning.

About Cricket Media

Cricket Media (TSX-VENTURE: CKT) is an education media company that provides award-winning content on a safe and secure learning network for children, families and teachers across the world. Cricket Media's 14 popular media brands for toddlers to teens include Babybug, Ladybug, Cricket® and Cobblestone® with multiple language editions and apps in English, Spanish and Chinese. The Company's innovative web-based K12 tools for school and home include the ePals community and virtual classroom for global collaboration as well as In2Books®, a Common Core eMentoring program that builds reading, writing and critical thinking skills. Cricket Media serves approximately one million classrooms and millions of teachers, students and parents in over 200 countries and territories through its platform and NeuPals, its joint venture with China's leading IT services company Neusoft. Cricket Media also licenses its content and platform to top publishing and educational companies worldwide. For more information, please visit www.Cricketmag.com, www.ePals.com and www.In2Books.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to customers, ventures such as Cricket Media China and Europe; partnerships; and Cricket Media's strategy, prospects and success in pursuing domestic or international markets for the platform or media businesses. These statements relate to future events or future performance. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and factors that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to Cricket Media. Such material factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to: Cricket Media's ability to execute on its business plan; the acceptance of Cricket Media's products and services by customers globally; that Cricket Media affiliated entities will be able to secure distribution partners for sale of Cricket Media's products and services; Cricket Media's subjective assessment of the likelihood of success of a sales lead or opportunity; that sales will be completed at or above Cricket Media's estimated margins; that the demand for webhosting and secure email communication, as well as education media related products domestically, in Europe and in China will continue to grow; that the demand for Cricket Media's products and services globally will develop and grow; the receipt of all requisite regulatory approvals throughout venture territories for the sale of Cricket Media's products and services; the availability of additional financing, if and when required and market conditions generally. Although Cricket Media has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof and Cricket Media is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Katya Andresen Chief Executive Officer Cricket Media Phone: (703) 885-3400 kandresen@cricketmedia.com Cory Pala Investor Relations e.vestor Communications Inc. Phone: (416) 657-2400 cpala@cricketmedia.com

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