Sesame Street have a new address. When the iconic kid -TV program starts its 56th season later in the year, it will be on Netflix, but perhaps more importantly it will also be at Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the US.
The couple announced the exclusive deal with a short and adorable video with cookie monster that discovers and then eats Netflix “N”.
A decade ago when HBO (yes, it was just called “HBO then) announced his historic agreement with Sesame Street To bring the series to its premium cable programming, it also moved the show’s original home to second-level status. All first-run episodes first appeared at HBO, and then, nine months later, the same episodes would be sent on the freely available PBS.
However, Netflix’s agreement fundamentally changes this equation. New season 56 episodes with Grover, Big Bird, Elmo and the rest of the characters are broadcast on Netflix and PBS at the same time.
Essentially this is two levels of good news for the beloved show: One, Sesame StreetIf the future was no longer safe, has a popular and well -funded new home; and two, all young and homes that deal with Sesame Street The story, regardless of their access or financial status, will have full access to the season’s show.
G is for good news
Neither Netflix nor Sesame Street reveals the conditions of the deal but without Netflix’s support it was unclear if Sesame Street would survive.
When I was talking to Sesame Street Execs a decade ago when they bred the HBO deal, they revealed to me that viewers at PBS accounted for a small percentage of their financing.
“What people do not understand is that PBS is financing only less than 10% of the production costs of the show. The show was funded for many years of license income,” said Jeff Dunn in 2015, who is now executive chairman at Sesame Workshop.
The key to people who buy content and products that are about Sesame Street The franchise and financing of non-profit Sesame Street Workshop is a larger audience devoted to its characters and themes. Netflix, which has approx. 310 million subscribers compared to Max’s estimated 110 million should help in that regard.
Big changes
Season 56 Sesame Street Netflix subscribers (and those who look at PBS) will encounter later in the year will be very different from previous editions.
- Characters will talk directly to viewers.
- Episodes will take viewers inside the apartment building where the figures live
- Elmos The World Returns and Cookie Monster gets a Cookie Cart
- Viewers find more animations on screen
- Longer history segments
Netflix has also committed to developing games for sEsame Street and Sesame Street Mecha Builders.
The streamer plans to release Sesame Street Season 56S 35 episodes in three batches on Netflix. It also adds approx. 90 hours of classic episodes for the platform. As for how many episodes represent, we leave it to the count to find out.
