Last May, Netflix made one of the most game-changing licensing deals in their history with the official announcement of a partnership between Netflix and the “Sesame Street” production company Sesame Workshop. The deal would give them the rights to stream brand new episodes of “Sesame Street” on the same day they premiere on PBS.
This deal was made just months after The New York Times reported that Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) had ceased its eight-year partnership with Sesame Workshop to stream the series on HBO Max. With the announcement of Netflix’s partnership, it’s speculated that “Sesame Street” will leave HBO Max inside the year. This follows a painful summer for the service after they famously lost several other long-running shows such as “Doctor Who” and “South Park”.
This week, Netflix and Sesame Workshop both announced the show’s move-in day. On Nov. 10, the show premieres its fifty-sixth season on PBS. This week, Netflix and Sesame Workshop both announced the show’s move-in day. Beginning with its season fifty-six premiere on Nov. 10, “Sesame Street” will premiere its episodes on both PBS and Netflix. In their press release, Sesame Workshop stated, “This unique public-private partnership will enable us to bring our research-based curriculum to young children around the world with Netflix’s global reach, while ensuring children in communities across the U.S. continue to have free access on public television to the “Sesame Street” they love. We are so grateful to Netflix, PBS, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Their combined support advances our mission and ensures we can help all children — everywhere — grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.”
In addition to the premiere of new episodes, the partnership will also allow Netflix to stream a library of old episodes; while Netflix likely won’t receive all fifty-five seasons of the series, there is already confirmation of at least ninety hours of past “Sesame Street” content with more on the way. Netflix plans to invest heavily in this partnership, and this investment couldn’t have arrived at a better time.
The deal alleviates worries about the future of both “Sesame Street” and Sesame Workshop; in March, The Washington Post reported that Sesame Workshop had been hit with “painful” staff reductions amid PBS’ brutal budget cuts, leaving many to wonder about “Sesame Street”’s future amid the end of its HBO Max partnership. However, this deal will see an immense inflow of funding for the production company and grant a healthy lifeline.
Ultimately, this partnership was a major win-win for both parties and has significantly reduced the chances of cancellation at any point in the near future. Make sure to mark your calendars for Nov. 10 as “Sesame Street”’s official Netflix debut, as well as the beginning of one of the biggest and most important content deals in Netflix history.
