Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has opted not to renew its distribution agreement with the Sesame Workshop for new episodes of “Sesame Street,” which have been offered through its HBO multiplex network and streaming service Max for a few years.
The original deal dates back to 2016, when then-HBO Max became the exclusive home of new episodes of Sesame Street. The deal allowed long-time Sesame Street home PBS to air those episodes on its member stations a few months later, and allowed WBD and Sesame Workshop to work together on other projects, including a kid-friendly talk show hosted by the muppet Elmo.
While WBD is opting to not renew the output deal, it will continue to license episodes of Sesame Street for Max through at least 2027, meaning new episodes will still be available on the streaming service. Moving forward, though, Max will pivot to more family-oriented and mature programming, and rely on its internal library of Cartoon Network and Hanna Barbera shows to reach younger audiences rather than licensing programs from other companies.
“It has been a wonderful, creative experience working with everyone at Sesame Street on the iconic children’s series and we are thrilled to be able to keep some of the library series on Max in the U.S.,” a spokesperson for WBD told the Hollywood Reporter, the entertainment trade publication that first broke the news of the lapsed deal.
The spokesperson continued: “As we’ve launched Max though and based on consumer usage and feedback, we’ve had to prioritize our focus on stories for adults and families, and so new episodes from Sesame Street, at this time, are not as core to our strategy.”
The decision to continue licensing Sesame Street to Max through 2027 will effectively mean the original deal lasted 10 years. It isn’t clear if Sesame Workshop has drawn interest from other content distributors who might be interested in offering new episodes of Sesame Street beyond PBS.
Sesame Street has aired more than 54 seasons on television, first airing in 1969 on PBS predecessor NET.
