The cookie monster, Oscar the Grouch and the rest of the gang leave Max. Sesame Street, the educational series and the beloved cult classic, has found a new home on Netflix.
The deal between Sesame workshop, which produces the show, and Netflix follows the announcement of Warner Bros. Discovery that it will not extend its five -year contract to distribute the show on Max (from summer 2025: HBO Max). Warner’s decision was related to a change in strategy for the streaming service.
As mentioned for the Spokesperson for Max (via the Hollywood Reporter):
It has been a wonderful, creative experience to work with everyone in Sesame Street on the iconic children’s series and we are very happy to be able to keep some of the library series on Max in the US. However, because we have launched Max and based on consumer use and feedback, we have had to prioritize our focus on stories for adults and families, and so new episodes from Sesam Street are not so core for our strategy at the moment.
However, it does not mean that Sesame Street will immediately disappear from Max – the series will be available on the platform until 2027. As planned, the 55th and last season of Sesame Street will premiere at Max.
Old seasons of Sesame Street will appear on Netflix later this year, with season 56 premiere on the service. At this stage, exact dates are unknown – get to find out to more as soon as we know.
According to Sesame workshop (via Variety):
We are delighted to announce that all new episodes from ‘Sesame Street’ come to Netflix worldwide, together with library deliveries, and new episodes will also release the same day on PBS stations and PBS children’s platforms in the US, which retain a 50+ annual relationship. The support of Netflix, PBS and the company for public broadcaster serve as a unique public-private partnership to enable Sesame Street to continue to help children everywhere to become smarter, stronger and friendlier.
Kay Wilson Stallings, Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Development and Production Officer for Sesame workshop, revealed that Sesame Street will be re -devised on Netflix. The segments will be longer and the stories are more refined, and the show will be enriched with a new animation series, Tales from 123. The beloved Elmo’s World and Cookie Monster’s Foodie Truck Segments will also return.
It is worth noting that Netflix will also develop video games for Sesame Street, as well as Sesam Street Mecha Builders.
Of course the American viewers will still be able to catch episodes of Sesame Street daily at PBS stations and PBS Kids Digital Platforms.
